LIMERICK stuttered and sweated to a clear but less than convincing win over Antrim at a colourful Croke Park yesterday to set up an All Ireland final pairing which has not been brought together for 86 years.

A margin of seven points might indicate a pretty comfortable cushion, but a rather freakish goal tends to put a gloss on the scoreline.

Indeed, Antrim came close to getting the ball in the net on a few occasions themselves, only to find Joe Quaid in his most inspired form, and a double save from John Carson and Alistair Elliot just near the end might have given Limerick the kind of jitters that they experienced against Offaly in their last final.

In truth, however, Antrim never really looked like winning, and one felt that if they had managed to take the lead at any stage that Limerick would be capable of stepping up a gear to pull away again.

Limerick appeared sluggish and leaden footed at times and were unable to produce the kind of form that they had produced against Tipperary. Antrim, as always, were workmanlike and determined, but they never got into the rhythm which might have seriously troubled Limerick.

They will naturally complain about the goal which gave Limerick a lead of 1-15 to 0-9. It arrived nine minutes from the end when Frankie Carroll drove a wickedly flighted sideline cut into the Antrim goalmouth and, amid some confusion, Eoin McCloskey grabbed the ball, only to be adjudged to have done so behind the line, and the green flag was raised.

Antrim protested on a number of fronts, claiming that their goalkeeper, Brendan Prenter, was impeded and fouled and that Limerick players were in the square". But to no avail, as the referee, Pat Aherne from Carlow, confirmed the score.

It was not the only time that Antrim felt badly done by, but they can be content with a brave effort nevertheless.

Limerick will be relieved that they managed to get through without any serious problems and will look forward to their tilt with Wexford with some confidence. Their defence had a pretty good day, with Quaid inspiring those in front of him and with all six other defenders making up a solid division which limited Antrim's opportunities effectively.

Mike Houlihan and Sean O'Neill at midfield probably shaded it over the Antrim pair of Jim Connolly and Paul McKillen. The latter was withdrawn at half time, but Connolly can be happy with a good day's work which included three well taken points a fact which can be taken as a reflection on the attack where, hard though Gary O'Kane, Aidan McCloskey, Paul Graham and Greg O'Kane tried, they could not make much headway against the steady Limerick defence.

The Limerick attack may come under some scrutiny though, for once again they depended much to heavily on Gary Kirby for scores. His contribution of nine points - four from frees - represents almost half the Limerick tally and, although Frankie Carroll, Barry Foley and T J Ryan - were lively enough, they were far from over running the Antrim defence.

In that section of the losing team one has to pay tribute to Terence McNaughton, their centre half back and by far the most distinguished member of the team. Never a man to spare himself, he stuck to the unenviable task of trying to curb Kirby and inspired his colleagues with some fine intrusions and clearances.

The game as a whole never rose to any great heights and certainly did not compare in any reasonable way with much of the hurling on display in this year's championship. Limerick had built up a five point lead by halftime (0-12 to 0-7) and might be regarded as being rather unlucky.

After 10 minutes Limerick had the ball in the net only to discover that the whistle had gone and they were brought back for a penalty. Kirby took the puck only to have it blocked and cleared by the Antrim defence, notably goalkeeper Brendan Prenter.

Antrim were thereby still very much in the match and when Sean Paul McKillop scored a fine point from play after 14 minutes they were only a point adrift at 0-4 to 0-3. Limerick were finding some trouble in getting on target and by half time they had registered nine wides with Dave Clarke, Mike Houlihan and Damien Quigley being among the main culprits.

Kirby joined the list soon after the break but he made amends with a successful free and a long range effort and completed a hat trick when he made the most of a good pass from Carroll to open up a gap of eight points (0-15 to 0-7).

Antrim put some good moves together, notably between McNaughton, Gary O'Kane and McKillop, but could manage only the occasional point. Their came Limerick's goal, and although they did not buckle under the strain it became clearer as the game wore on that Antrim were not going to make any significant inroads on Limerick's lead.

When their best efforts were foiled by that spectacular double save from Quaid it was clear that Antrim's courageous effort had failed and that Limerick were in the final.