Limerick talisman Aaron Gillane insists that his fifth consecutive Munster hurling title means just as much as his first, after he helped his county to the narrowest of wins over Clare in the Gaelic Grounds.
Gillane put in a player-of-the-match display against the Banner, scoring 1-11 as Limerick ran out 1-23 to 1-22 winners.
The All-Ireland champions had to dig deep as they trailed to a Mark Rodgers' goal at the break but Gillane's 45th minute major proved to be the turning point for his side who wrestled control of the game from that point on.
Speaking to RTÉ afterwards, Gillane paid tribute to both Clare and his side’s supporters and despite picking up a Munster winner's medal for the last five years, he says that the shine is still very much on the Mick Mackey Cup for Limerick.
"Unbelievable," he said. "A full Gaelic Ground sold out, a very tight match. A lovely enough [game] for the supporters and a lovely day for us to finish it out as well, we’re delighted to get it over the line.
"It’s a sign of the great character of Clare that they didn’t give up, they didn’t throw in the towel and were right there to the very end. But to be fair it’s been that way the last couple of years.
"Any day you win a Munster medal it’s unbelievable, it doesn’t matter how many you have in a row, they’re all equally as special as each other, so we’re delighted."
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Despite being named player-of-the-match, Gillane was quick to shake off any individual accolades and attempted to play down his contribution.
"Sure a lot of them were frees," he said. "For the other ones, the guys put the ball on a plate for me. I just had to the do the easy bit."
Limerick defender Barry Nash was more effusive in his praise of Gillane.
"Aaron has been brilliant all year," he told RTÉ Sport. "We’ve some unbelievable hurlers there. Everyone stood up today, I can’t fault any of them."
Nash revealed that he was disappointed at the nature of Clare’s goal where Rodgers reacted quickest to a rebound off the post.
However despite going into the break trailing by three points, he was always confident that Limerick would be able to turn things around.
"We conceded a bit of a soft goal which gave Clare a three-point lead, but we know what’s in that dressing room, the calibre of men that’s in there. We just fought back, did our thing, kept cool, calm and collected, and composed. We got back into the game."
