Forty-two minutes in and five points down, it looked like the Limerick dynasty was in trouble.
But the Treaty produced a perfect final half hour to overhaul Kilkenny and take their place in the record books with a fourth consecutive All-Ireland hurling championship victory.
After Paddy Deegan fired the Cats' second goal for a 2-10 to 0-11 lead, the Green Machine outscored their opponents 19-5 in an outrageous display of shooting, Peter Casey hitting five from play as they ran out comfortable nine-point winners.
Limerick's fifth title in six years was won the hard way. Without Sean Finn or captain Declan Hannon, it was the first of those finals in which they had to fight back from a half-time deficit – Eoin Cody’s goal giving his hard-working side a 1-09 to 0-09 advantage at the break.
But John Kiely’s men were unstoppable down the closing stretch - Diarmuid Byrnes immense as they pinned a tiring Kilkenny into their own half and hit point after point, with only one second-half wide until injury time.
Limerick’s 12th All-Ireland win sees them join Cork (1941-44) and Kilkenny (2006-09) as the only counties to complete four in a row and they will be hot favourites to become the undisputed greatest hurling team of all time next year.
It's a less welcome four-in-a-row for Kilkenny of final defeats, back to back against Limerick, and their wait for Liam MacCarthy will extend to at least nine years, their joint-longest drought since 1947-57.
Kilkenny never led last year but got the opening point through Deegan - though Limerick quickly hit back through the first of two from Cian Lynch, their outstanding player of the half, and a Byrnes free.
Day-long drizzle made for a slippy ball and scrappy play but Kilkenny were tackling ferociously, winning turnovers and mostly limiting Limerick to frees.
Cody, bidding to become the youngest winning captain in 48 years, struck on 10 minutes after Tom Phelan helped break the ball, darting into space and zipping a shot off the surface and across Quaid into the net.
Adrian Mullen was hit late but Phelan, who scored 0-03 in his first final, converted the advantage as Will O’Donoghue picked up an early yellow. Byrnes also went into the book for catching Butler late and Murphy drove over the free from inside his own 45 for a 1-04 to 0-03 advantage.
Limerick had scored just once from play in the first quarter before Gillane got out in front of Lawlor and cut the gap to one and the Patrickswell dangerman then swiped just wide off the ground. But TJ, drifting around the Limerick half, claimed a Murphy puckout brilliantly and won a free to make it 1-05 to 0-05 after 23 minutes.
The Cats pulled six clear: two frees from TJ, one won by Cody after unbelievable skill to retain possession, and a point from his brother Richie as the Limerick puckout was again picked off. Limerick rallied with three in a row themselves though, the superb Lynch leading the way as he won a free, scored off a Gillane pass and set up David Reidy, after Cody had sent another attempt on goal narrowly wide.
TJ had his first and only missed free of the day but immediately nailed a harder one and the irrepressible Lynch set up Tom Morrissey to make it a one-score game at the interval.
Byrnes made a crucial hook on Phelan on the restart and sent over two frees from distance as Limerick started to make use of the breeze that was now in their favour. Phelan conceded one of them for over-carrying but immediately leapt high to win and convert the puckout.
Then Kilkenny struck for their second goal. Murphy took a clever free short to Richie Reid and he found Phelan. Deegan had got into space at the back post and drilled a shot into the corner – hitting the ball so hard that it went through the net, sparking a gasp when the umpire correctly waved the green flag – Kilkenny now 2-10 to 0-11 ahead.
Many teams would have wobbled. Limerick took over.
Casey hit the first of his sublime five efforts and Barry Nash got forward for a point. Gearóid Hegarty, kept scoreless in the first half, fired one over and the superb Byrnes – who scored six points from as many shots in the second period – added another free from halfway.
Limerick were level after some frantic blocks to deny Cody a second goal. They got the ball down the other end and Seamus Flanagan set up Gillane – otherwise superbly marshalled by Lawlor – to make it all-square.
A TJ free nudged Kilkenny ahead again, for the last time, in the 49th minute but Limerick were at full steam now, and the Cats couldn’t get out of their own half as long puckouts were lost and short ones turned over.
Limerick banked another four quick scores: Darragh O’Donovan, Gillane and Byrnes (2), one in open play from his own 65.
Kilkenny briefly rallied, scoring three of the next four as John Donnelly and Adrian Mullen got on the board, and somehow there were still just two points in it - the final margin between them last year - on the hour mark, at 2-14 to 0-22.
But the challengers only scored once again – a TJ 65 – Limerick showing just why they are champions with a devastating six unanswered points in five minutes, in which every shot they hit went over the bar.
Casey fired over from all angles, near and far, David Reidy doubled his tally and Kyle Hayes and substitute Cathal O’Neill got in on the act. None of Kilkenny’s subs troubled the scoresheet.
Kilkenny couldn’t get the ball in to Cody and though Alan Murphy was tackled, possibly fouled, by Reidy over the end-line in injury time it scarcely would have mattered. Casey and O’Neill added the icing.
After one of the greatest All-Ireland second-half performances of all time, Lynch and Hannon (the injured one this time) once again lifted Liam MacCarthy together.
It will take something special to stop Hannon climbing the steps again this time 12 months.
Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Mike Casey, Dan Morrissey, Barry Nash (0-01); Diarmuid Byrnes (0-08, 7f), Will O'Donoghue, Kyle Hayes (0-01); Darragh O’Donovan (0-01), Cian Lynch (capt, 0-02); Gearoid Hegarty (0-02), David Reidy (0-02), Tom Morrissey (0-01); Aaron Gillane (0-05, 3f), Seamus Flanagan, Peter Casey (0-05).
Subs: Cathal O Neill (0-02) for T Morrissey (55), Graeme Mulcahy for Flanagan (62), Conor Boylan for Hegarty (68), Barry Murphy for O’Donovan (71), Aaron Costello for M Casey (73).
Kilkenny: Eoin Murphy (0-01); Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Tommy Walsh; Conor Fogarty, Richie Reid (0-01), Paddy Deegan (1-01); John Donnelly (0-01), Adrian Mullen (0-01); Tom Phelan (0-03), Martin Keoghan, Walter Walsh; Billy Ryan, TJ Reid (0-07, 6f 1 '65’) Eoin Cody (capt) (1-00).
Subs: Pádraig Walsh for Fogarty (ht), Alan Murphy for W Walsh (48), Cian Kenny for Ryan (54) Richie Hogan for Phelan (65), Cillian Buckley for Donnelly (68).
Referee: John Keenan (Wicklow)
