It was a case of mixed emotions for John Kiely, praising the character of his side in overcoming Waterford, while also remarking on aspects that made for uncomfortable viewing.
In the end, the Treaty prevailed by nine points at the TUS Gaelic Grounds, an outcome that sees them progress to the All-Ireland series. A win over an already-relegated Tipperary will ensure their spot in the Munster final on 7 June.
A lot then for Kiely to unpick when he spoke to RTÉ Sport afterwards, highlighting a period in the opening half he clearly was not happy with.
"We had a good first ten minutes, got some good scores, but then we struggled to get on breaking ball," he said.
"Waterford got to the tempo of it and had a very good run for ten, 12 minutes. We were down 15 to 10 and Cian [Lynch] comes on for Adam [English] who picked up a yellow, we didn't want to risk a red, and Cian gave us life in the minutes before half-time. We went only a point down which was very significant.
"But it was the breaking ball and us struggling to get on puck outs. We lost a few battles we would not be happy with; it was not a good spell for us in that half. When we sit down to review it on Tuesday night it will be uncomfortable viewing for that part of the game."
The Limerick boss went on to acknowledge the "character" shown by his side in outscoring their opponents 2-09 to 1-00 in the last 14 minutes of the game, with Peter Casey and Gearóid Hegarty getting the goals. He also praised those introduced during the course of the encounter, saying: "We had a bench today that made an impact and that was critical in getting a result.
"David Reidy came on and made a big impact. Colm Coughlan came on at wing-back to allow Kyle [Hayes] to sit in the pocket and that made us very solid there. Tom Morrissey comes on and gets three points. Those subs gave energy to the team, it wasn't what they did but the energy they gave everyone else."
What has characterised Limerick's elevation under Kiely has been their high scoring rate, with the manager now applauding the raising of more green flags.
On Casey's three-pointer, "that goal is literally all about character," he remarked.
"We had them in a vulnerable position; we got the break we needed and when we got the chance we took it. There was great desire in our group to try and get those couple of goals. Every day we're getting those goals and that wasn't always the case.
"I think our goalscoring rate is well up on previous years across our season. And we'll be going again for more."
Looking ahead to the clash with Tipp, Kiely views it in the context of a "Munster semi-final", while Gearóid Hegarty, who also spoke to RTÉ Sport, talked about going the "shortest route" to that provincial final.
Hegarty certainly values the Munster combat.
"It is the best competition in the whole world in relation to how competitive it is".
