IN THE steaming heat of Tipperary's jubilant dressing room, Len Gaynor caught his breath between bear hugs and back slaps.

The Tipperary manager knew the significance of this breakthrough. It was, he said, a "huge win" - the Limerick monkey had been shaken off their backs.

It had been a terrific team performance but what pleased him most of all was his free scoring attack. "Our point scoring was exceptional," he said, "we got them from all angles."

He added that his defence was equally good: "There were no easy scores got by Limerick, our backs closed them down very well.

The tension level had been very high in their dressing room before the game but they kept it under control and by half time he felt that things were looking good. Michael Cleary's 21st minute goal had been "crucial".

Things were looking even better midway through the second half as they stretched their lead to seven points. Gaynor expected a Limerick revival but it never materialised. "Limerick faded out a little bit easy in the second half I thought. The same fire wasn't in them."

In fact, it was Tipperary who showed the fire but Gaynor refused to take credit for the new streak of steel apparent in their play. "I can't put it into anyone. There is steel in these guys and it's only a matter of bringing it out."

Asked if he would have any mixed feelings about facing Clare, the team he previously managed, in the Munster final, Gaynor replied: "I wouldn't think so!" The smile said it all - not a chance.

Goalkeeper Brendan Cummins said the team was mentally positive at all times. "We said at halftime we weren't going to die, we weren't going to let it slip. We had our heads perfect for this one. We had the home crowd behind us and we didn't want to be beaten by Limerick for a third time here in Thurles. It was our day today."

Wing back Raymie Ryan said it was an 18 man performance. "Limerick missed a lot of chances in the first 20 minutes but when they slowly started to get on top, we started to grind.

"The goal was crucial, it gave us breathing space. In a tight game a goal means so much."

Corner forward, Liam Cahill, felt they could have got in for more goals. "Maybe we should have created more goal chances but it would have been the end of the road for a lot of players today if we had lost. It would have been hard to overcome that."

There was no way they would take the Munster final lightly just because they will have a second chance of AllIreland glory if they lose. "We will be going in there to win it regardless of second chances."

Limerick looked a bit dead on the day, Cahill felt. "We were expecting a much tougher game than that, I thought there would be little or nothing in it."

Centrehalf back Colm Bonnar equally didn't think the game was particularly intense. "We said before the game that if we stopped them scoring goals we would win and that's how it worked out."

The Limerick manager, Tom Ryan, was frank and philosophical about the outcome. "I have no complaints, we were beaten by a better team. We could have been closer on the scoreboard but we didn't deserve to win the match by any means.

Limerick had the majority of possession for most of the first half but failed to convert enough of it into scores, he said. "We were on top for the first 20 minutes, we appeared to have the edge, but we weren't scoring and that was a disaster. Then they got the goal and we never recovered from it.

Things were looking ominous by the interval: "I was very uncomfortable with our performance at half time. We made some changes but they didn't work either."

He disagreed with Len Gaynor's assessment that Limerick lacked fire on the day. "I wouldn't say it was a lack of fire. There was a lack of penetration up front and that was a big problem. Our team was being outplayed out there and it's hard to know what fire would do.

"When you're playing with a five or six point cushion things happen to you, you are flowing. Tipp gave a fantastic team performance. Their full back line was very strong; they were attacking the ball and driving out good, long clearances and that was rising the rest of the team."

Questions about his own position "would have to wait for another day", he said. He would stay on until the end of the League and it was up to the County Board after that.

"I would be disappointed if we had to go out on a poor performance. We didn't play today, simple as that, but I think this team is still good enough to come back again."

Veteran forward Gary Kirby agreed that there would be no talk of retirement from any of the players, he hoped.

"It's hard to pinpoint what went wrong. Everything seemed perfect leading up to the game. We had a lot of possession in the first half but we missed numerous chances and they got a soft goal. So we went in at half time behind instead of being in front."