Not as bad as the horrific defeat to Offaly in the All Ireland final ('95), but it still hurt in the guts.

It was a terrible way to bow out of the championship, but Limerick did not deserve to advance to the semi final of the All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Limerick only led for eight minutes of this game and still had a scent of victory.

Limerick as usual beat themselves - the obvious shortcomings witnessed in the Munster Final against Tipperary were again quite evident from the start. The defence was unsettled throughout with the centre of the defence (Geary and TJ Ryan) very suspect under the high ball.

The opening goal scored by UL's Rory McCarthy highlighted that despite TJ Ryan is an adequate full-back - he is not the answer for this position. Likewise, Brian Geary is not a centre back - he is a skillful player and had an impressive second half performance but the fact of the matter is that Larry Murphy had arguably his best display for Wexford on the 40 since Wexford's All-Ireland triumph.

Despite Limerick bravely fighting back from each body blow inflicted by Wexford in the form of goals, one sensed that Cregan and his selectors had no "Plan B" to fall back on to stem the tide of the Slaneysiders attack.

The most disappointing aspect of this game was the decision to persist with Mike O'Brien in the half forward line. This was a fatal mistake, to move your most impressive midfielder to an alien position is sheer utter madness (like moving DJ Carey from the full-forward line to the full-back line). Limerick did not dominate this area early on, and this proved crucial as Wexford set their pattern of play and Limerick as how hard they tried could not break the stranglehold.

And finally, the forward line - where will I start? So many things went wrong in this area that I would bore you to sleep. Barry Foley even though scoring two goals again underperformed - the decision to hand him the captaincy did affect his performance no question this season. The real captain on the day was Ciaran Carey (what a legend - cert for an All Star). In the second half, he imposed his authority on the game when so many players around him cracked again under the pressure.

Ollie Moran started well but once he was hacked by Liam Dunne late in the opening period, there was only going to be one winner to that duel. It would have been an useful idea switching Ollie Moran into midfield / centre back area to impose his undoubted presence on the game but again the management staff failed to act to remedy the problem.

The full-forward line looked again quite limited, James Butler cracked under the pressure. He was still trying to take it all in when he was replaced in the second half. Brian Begley despite working hard for the cause was limited as Darragh Ryan dominated this battle - one must think that Declan Ryan will give Ryan a more stiffer test in the semi final.

Finally, the decision of Limerick to persist with Paul O'Grady free-taking was the final nail in the Limerick coffin - this statement may seem harsh as overall he produced an effective performance but at the end of the day scores win matches and missing three scoreable chances from within 30 yards was unforgiveable.

This season has seen the emergence of Limerick as a force again in the senior hurling - but one has to ask will Limerick choke mentally under the pressure next season like they did this year? Time will obvious tell.