Richie Bennis leaned against a wall, his face reddened and offering a grandfatherly smile as he explained his movements in Croke Park. Forced to leave the sideline to his selector and nephew Gary Kirby while he served a suspension, the Limerick manager made an unexpected appearance behind his substitutes in the second half.

"I was so far back I could not see the match in the first half. My eyesight is that bad," he protested. "I had to go down to the back of the substitutes after that. I was very happy with the way they hurled. People say we are hardworking and all that but we are able to hurl as well. We weathered a storm too and come back in the last 10 minutes.

"They want to win something this year. They are great fellas. I was told about this on Friday night and was escorted all the way up to the back of the stand and it was a joke. I came back down myself. I had to watch it somewhere. But I had no contact at all with the sideline."

Some of the gloom and darkness left Limerick hurling after Bennis took over in dire of circumstances. Yesterday's performance can be traced back to his first game last summer, a low-key qualifying game on a Saturday evening in Tullamore. Limerick people travelled in fear more than anticipation and afterwards gathered around Bennis, one of the godfathers of 1973, in appreciation. That win over Offaly wasn't going to set the world alight but at least it was a victory.

This year came the famous trilogy of games against Tipperary, the bear hug with Michael Babs Keating and the victory. Now comes a return to the All-Ireland semi-finals for the first time in over a decade.

"I was a small bit worried," he insisted, although he didn't sound it. "Because if they'd got another score, we would have been under pressure. But we got two good points on top of that and we came good. Shaughsy (Andrew O'Shaughnessy), he was due one. What a place to perform. He was due one. Donie Ryan was a revelation. This is bigger than 2001. We didn't get to a semi-final last year. This is the biggest since 1996."

Andrew O'Shaughnessy stood nearby, talking about a happy day: "Every game is different. The Tipp game was pure dogged, pure intensity. This was free-flowing and while it might have been attractive to look at, it maybe wasn't our best performance. We weren't happy with the first half - when we were on top, we missed a lot.

"Croke Park is a fine surface. It takes time to get your bearings because we are not used to it. The goals may seem that bit farther away and it does take a bit of time. We got some good points and when you see young lads shooting points over, it gives you confidence."

Clare manager Tony Considine ambled up the corridor to wish his best to the Limerick dressingroom.

"We came up here as underdogs," he declared. "People said I was playing them up and that. This is a good Limerick team. But lads, you cannot miss the chances we had. At the end of the day, when you miss those chances you are not entitled to win a match. And obviously our goalkeeper played very well also with saves and that kind of thing.

"But we didn't get the scores. Daithi O'Connell got through at one stage and the Limerick goalkeeper got a good save.

"We died and we came back. Then we gave a soft goal. In Croke Park, you will get mistakes and you have to get over them. But Limerick were the better team today. That is the fact of the whole thing."

It about said it all. After a rough few months, at least Considine saw his team bow out with the characteristic pride intact. He smiled broadly when asked about his plans for next year and blinked a few times through his black-rimmed spectacles.

"I have been shot so many times this year that a few more bullets won't do me any harm at this stage. That is for another day. I am thinking about those lads in there who gave it everything. I am gutted today and I wish Limerick the best now."