It might, in time, be recalled as the score that totally altered the final chapter of this year’s hurling championship. Aidan O’Connor’s late goal – Limerick’s resurrection, Clare’s heartbreak. For an All-Ireland semi-final of such attrition and tension, the pendulum-swinger in the end was Limerick’s last-gasp strike. And from a game that at times felt suffocated through the sheer raw desire and willingness of players to put their bodies on the line, O’Connor’s goal was honed from dogged workrate but finished with a flourish of beautiful brilliance. The game turned like this:With 69 minutes and 18 seconds on the clock, O’Connor strikes over a free from inside the 45-metre line to leave Limerick two points adrift, 1-19 to 0-20.At 69 minutes and 39 seconds, Éibhear Quilligan sends his puck-out long down the field – the sliotar concluding its flight between Limerick’s 45m and 65m lines, out near the Hogan Stand sideline.There are 11 players in the landing zone awaiting the ball’s arrival – five from Clare, six from Limerick. From within the forest of bodies, Cian Lynch somehow finds the time and space, first to scan the scene on ground level around him and then to soar skyward to pluck the sliotar from the clouds with his right hand. Limerick's Aidan O'Connor shoots to the net against Clare. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho Immediately on landing, he darts inwards and is instantly swallowed by three Clare players. Somehow, from within the ruck of bodies converged on him, Lynch squirts the ball out to Mike Casey.Both players are only on the field a matter of minutes, having been introduced off the bench. Casey moves the ball out to another second-half sub, Tom Morrissey. He in turn passes down the Hogan Stand sideline to the unmarked Adam English.English throws his eyes down the field, spots O’Connor inside and with 69 minutes and 56 seconds on the clock, he delivers a lovely angled cross-field ball inside.O’Connor races out for the ball and meets it midair just inside the 20, beating David McInerney to win possession. He swivels while airborne to be facing goal on landing, free now of any Clare defender. Just the goalkeeper to beat.He prepares to pull the trigger just on the 13-metre line, while behind him – and all out of other options – Darragh Lohan throws his hurl in O’Connor’s direction. It doesn’t work. The ball fizzes beyond Quilligan. With the clock showing 70.01, O’Connor is throwing his arms out in celebration. Goal, Limerick lead for the first time since the 11th minute of the contest.They would not be caught by Clare again.Limerick manager John Kiely (left) and Clare counterpart Brian Lohan after Sunday's All-Ireland SHC semi-final. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho “It was such an example of resilience and a never-say-die attitude and composure in that final quarter,” said Limerick manager John Kiely of his players.“Like Adam finding Aido, trusting Aido to retain that ball and go for it. Adam could have taken on the shot for the point, instead he spots Aido inside, a very difficult ball to take but he made it stick. And his finish was superb. “Look, incredibly proud of the guys, it shows just where they’re at I think in terms of their . . . just their spirit. They have incredible spirit. And they’re never beaten until that final whistle is gone.”O’Connor added a free in the fifth minute of injury-time, the Ballybrown man scoring the last 1-2 of a contest that ended with just two points between the sides at the final whistle. He finished the game with 1-9.But Kiely was keen to stress the importance of their bench in Limerick’s second-half rally. Lynch, in particular, brought a visible steadying influence to their play. The team captain didn’t start because of a hamstring injury.“He could have done with a few more days,” said Kiely. “But he did what he was asked to do and that’s all a guy can do. It’s not about who starts, it’s about the team and how the team performs across the 80 minutes or so that you have on the pitch. The impact off our bench was tremendous.”Referee Thomas Walsh with Clare's Diarmuid Stritch, Shane O'Donnell and Cathal Malone after Peter Duggan was fouled. Photograph: Tom O’Hanlon/Inpho But if O’Connor’s goal was the winning of the game for Limerick, the decision by referee Thomas Walsh not to show Nickie Quaid a black card for his tackle on Peter Duggan that led to a penalty might well be viewed in Clare as a factor in their side not closing out the match.In Walsh’s defence, the regulation does state a player “shall be in possession of the ball” and Duggan was in the process of trying to gather it when taken down by Quaid.“Those calls are tough calls to make,” stated Brian Lohan when asked about the incident in his post-match press conference.“Look, we’re not going to have any complaints. We came up, we gave everything we had. We felt that we needed 110 per cent from all our players and we probably got 110 per cent. But we probably needed 115 per cent.”Kiely, rather than fearing he was about to lose his goalkeeper to a black card at the time, believed Walsh was actually going to award a free out after consulting with his team of officials.“That’s what I was expecting, because I thought there was doubt about the penalty, but I haven’t seen it back.”Shane O'Donnell leaves the Croke Park field for the last time as a Clare player. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho As Kiely spoke in the auditorium under the Hogan Stand, back outside, Shane O’Donnell was about to leave the Croke Park pitch for the final time as a Clare player.O’Donnell was the last player down the tunnel, the Clare dynamo graciously agreeing to a series of TV interviews before signing autographs and posing for photographs with family, friends and hurling fans who had remained in the stadium.“It’s been an honour to be able to wear the Clare jersey, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” O’Donnell said on RTÉ.“I’ve loved every minute of it. The guys in the dressingroom, every player I’ve ever played with in the Clare jersey, I’ve been proud to stand beside them.”As, no doubt, they were to stand beside him.