"It's certainly not the way any person involved in hurling wants to see a match finish, taking 65s like that. It's not the way to finish a game but it is what it is and we can't control it. Ideally, you'd like to go out at it again but it's just not to be and that's it."

Despite seeing his team eventually emerge victorious, Limerick's John Kiely is not a fan of the new match deciding free-taking competition.

"Given the fact that some of the other quarter-finals were postponed, there was every opportunity to play this next weekend. But fair play to Limerick, they had us put away two or three times, we came back. We had them put away two or three times in extra-time, and they came back. It was incredible hurling and some entertainment. Fair dues to both teams."

Clare joint-manager Donal Moloney echoed Kiely's sentiments.

"We are in the league semi-final now, which is progress because after the first two games, we weren't being tipped at all to come this far. It has been good application by the players and a good response. It was really, really a fierce battle and if the attitude was less than what it was, we wouldn't have won the game. Offaly are going to be a serious threat to anyone in the championship."

Brian Cody and the Cats have proved their doubters wrong so far in the league.

"We're just trying to get them to release themselves so they are well able to hurl because they have been in a box this past three years, and they have been afraid to express themselves and now they are just starting to do it, and it's great to see it."

The Faithful County are heading in the right direction under Kevin Martin.

"As a manager, you are under pressure if you don't win and I was under pressure today to get a result. In fairness, the lads around me, Declan (O'Sullivan), Kieran (Murphy), Seanie (Barry), Donal O'Mahony in the backroom staff, they have all worked extremely hard so to get that win and it was important to maintain the status and to set you up for the Munster championship."

Cork boss John Meyler exhaled a sigh of relief following their victory over Waterford.

"We're very happy with lots of our play; to be relegated isn't nice so we're disappointed over that, but we weren't even approaching it in a manner where we mentioned relegation or even staying up. We were just trying to build towards a good performance and I think we got that."

Derek McGrath wasn't too downbeat after the Deise were relegated to Division 1B.

"There were a lot of things I didn't think were frees. I would say he would be extremely disappointed with his own performance. I'll just leave it at that then."

Referee Colm Lyons' display in Saturday's pulsating Tommy Moore Cup decider left a lot to be desired according to Na Piarsaigh's Shane O'Neill.

"I was more than pleased when I seen the net shaking."

Sean Moran came to Cuala's rescue with a stoppage time goal from a free and manager Mattie Kenny hailed his crucial intervention.

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