Limerick 1-25 Waterford 0-17

There was confusion in the Croke Park air as, having chatted with his umpires, All-Ireland semi-final referee John Keenan flashed a red card at Peter Casey which as things stand, will rule the corner forward out of the 2021 All-Ireland hurling final.

Usually, given the GAA's lengthy and all-encompassing appeals process, players have every chance of getting off but as the replays came up on screen, all eyes fixated on Limerick's number 13, Casey's chances had already began tumbling down the glen. The play had just went away from them when, in standing face-to-face with his marker Conor Gleeson, the Na Piarsaigh player appeared to move his head in the Déise man's direction. With the benefit of the replays, to call it a head-butt would definitely be a stretch but as Gleeson's hurl and hands brushed off Casey before the pair stared each other down, there was certainly a nod from Casey, who will surely regret giving the referee a decision to make. [caption id="attachment_233960" align="alignnone" width="1000"] Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile[/caption] Having lit the place up in the hour leading up to the collision, it was a disappointing end to yet another dazzling day for Casey but for him, the most painful headaches are yet to split as he, presumably, will head down the appeals avenue in a bid to be set free for the biggest day of the hurling year. It would be especially sickening for him to miss out, when you consider that he was dropped for last year's final. As it turned out, Casey's rush of blood was an isolated error in the manufacturing of yet another machine-like Limerick performance. It was business as usual for them all over the field but at the centre of it, the amazing Tom Morrissey scored points like there isn't an easier thing to do in the whole wide world while Barry Nash, once again, Cian Lynch, Darragh O'Donovan and Seamus Flanagan were phenomenal for John Kiely's team. Waterford, on the other hand, will rue a couple of missed goal chances but in this sort of mood, it's no shame to come up short to this Limerick team. Leading the fight for Liam Cahill's men was the brilliant Calum Lyons, who revelled in a thundering battle with Gearoid Hegarty while Conor Prunty couldn't be accused for taking a backward step. But after all that, Limerick are Limerick. They are simply sensational, almost flawless and completely unplayable, as an early Seamus Flanagan point showed. https://twitter.com/GAA__JOE/status/1424057699252178948 As for the Casey incident, both Donal Óg and Henry Shefflin were in agreement that he will do well to make it back for the final while John Kiely, predictably, batted for the character of his player. "I feel desperate for him. But you're asking for trouble. They play the game on the edge, Limerick but they often are unnecessarily asking for trouble," said Donal Óg. "There was movement of the head. It's extremely disappointing for Peter Casey but when he looks back, he will say that, unfortunate as it is, those are the rules," added the Kilkenny man. "I haven't seen it, but I'm looking forward to seeing it. That would be extremely out of character for Peter Casey, it wouldn't be in his character at all, at all," said the Limerick manager. Meanwhile, Darragh O'Donovan, after sweeping up the breaks in the middle of the field, was named as the man-of-the-match and interestingly, before roaring 'up Limerick' down the microphone, the Doon man criticised the decision to delay the game's throw-in time by a half an hour due to the collapse of a hay-lorry on the Naas-Dublin road. "The 30 minute delay probably affected both teams. It's very unfair. Players should be put first in that instance. It's as unfair on Waterford as it is on us. I mean 0-4 0-3 in an All-Ireland semi-final, so it obviously did affect both teams," he said. https://twitter.com/GAA__JOE/status/1424030526122467331