Limerick manager John Kiely was left to reflect on a "bitterly disappointing" evening after his side came out the wrong end of a Munster Hurling Championship thriller against Cork at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday.
The All-Ireland champions were stunned in injury-time as a Patrick Horgan penalty followed by a Brian Hayes score led to delirious scenes as the home faithful celebrated a 3-28 to 3-26 victory.
Before that, Limerick had clawed their way back from eight points down to lead by four and looked to be on their way to making it three wins out of three in this year's championship.
Instead, Cork kept their hopes of progression alive, leaving Kiely to pick up the pieces ahead of their final-round meeting with Waterford at the Gaelic Grounds on 26 May.
"I'm trying to put it into perspective because it's a competition of four games. It's a league, we've played three and won two," Kiely told RTÉ Sport after the game.
"We're probably looking for a little bit more consistency across the full game but we are improving all the time. I think our second-half performance was very, very admirable, there were huge positives in there for us.
"We're bitterly disappointed we didn't close out the game better ourselves. We should have, we didn't and that's on us. We've got to swallow that pill now. All credit to Cork, they kept their head in it, they didn't panic in the second half either.
"It's bitterly disappointing but we have to put it into perspective. We have another chance, we have another day and to have that in the Gaelic Grounds means a lot to us. I know our supporters will come and give these boys every encouragement in that situation.
"We have two weeks to get ready for it which is something I'm grateful to have because it means we'll be full of energy by the time that game comes around."
Despite the defeat, Limerick remain on top of the Munster table, although they sit out next weekend as the other four counties play each other.
Clare and Waterford will both have a chance to overtake the Treatymen when they meet in Ennis, while Cork will fancy themselves against a winless Tipperary in Thurles.
