Limerick manager John Kiely says a repeat of their performance in defeat to Cork should stand the Treaty men well over the course of their Munster campaign.
Three stoppage-time points saw the Rebels make it two wins from two in the round-robin series and triumph over a Limerick side that played the last 20 minutes a man down after Cian Lynch was sent off for an off-the-ball striking incident.
It another high-octane encounter between the two rivals, with Limerick now heading to Ennis looking to get back on track.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport after the game, Kiely insisted his team showed great character after Lynch was dismissed.
"It is hard but at the same time I don't think Cork really got a march on us afterwards," he said.
"Our response, as is quite typical when it happens, was very solid. We pulled ourselves back into the game, took the lead. I think our response was superb at the time."
Limerick reeled off the first five points of the game before the Rebels settled to the task in front of 43,369 fans at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
Limerick enjoyed a two-point advantage at the interval and pushed that out further upon the resumption before the hosts responded.
Cork led by the bare minimum when Lynch received his marching orders but with the clock approaching 70, it was Limerick that had retaken the lead before the Rebels finished with a flourish.
Kiely insists he took a lot from the battling display.
"Tremendous effort from our guys, really proud of that performance to be honest with you," he said.
"It was right on the money really. It was just a few small things that prevented us from getting the win. Maybe being a small bit more efficient of front of goal was definitely one of the factors.
"We'll regroup this week. It was only game one of four. It's not like it was a poor performance. It was a really good one. If we can reproduce that throughout the round-robin we're going to give ourselves opportunities and chances to win matches."
The five-time All-Ireland winning manager says the belief that his team can make serious inroads in the championship this season despite the early setback on Leeside.
"I have no doubt that next week they'll do the exact same. If they do, which I know they will, we'll give ourselves an opportunity."
His Cork counterpart Ben O'Connor was also pleased with the resilience of his side to edge the latest tussle between the sides.
"We had a poor start," he said. "We didn't get hurling until maybe the 15th or 16th minute and then we got on a bit of a roll, but we were lucky to go in only two points down at half-time.
"It just shows the character of our lads, they dug deep in fairness. You're always going to get that sort of a battle of Limerick. Having 15 against 14 for 20 minutes of the second half made it that bit easier."
