The Limerick defender had been on the field just over 20 minutes, introduced as a 13th minute sub for the injured Sean Finn.

The Knockaderry clubman is suspended for this Saturday’s All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final away to Carlow (7pm) and should John Kiely’s charges come out on top, he would also miss their All-Ireland quarter-final, against either Galway or Kilkenny, the following weekend.

Carlow spent the first two months of summer operating in the second-tier, but manager John Kiely ruled out any talk of Limerick approaching this fixture in a more laissez-faire manner than would have been the case for their four games in Munster.

“Right from the start of the year, we have never been found wanting in any of our games. The attitude has always been right,” Kiely said last night.

That is down to the players and their own attitude. It is not necessarily management, it is down to the group. They are very hardworking and very ambitious.

"They are very good at managing themselves going into matches and making sure they are in the right frame of mind.”

The motivation this weekend is to secure an All-Ireland quarter-final berth for the first time since 2014.

Limerick fell at the preliminary quarter-final hurdle the following two years, while in 2017, they lost their opening round qualifier to Kilkenny.

“The prize is massive,” Kiely continued.

“This time last year, we were finished and out of the championship.

“It is a huge thing for us to be part of the All-Ireland series and we want to stay in it for as long as we can. We’ll be giving 110% on Saturday night to make sure we are still in the hunt again on Monday morning.

“I was up at Carlow’s win in the Joe McDonagh Cup final and they were very impressive.”