Fitzgerald said: “They were all phenomenal, every one of them battled very hard and showed great courage and commitment.

“We were down to 14 men at half-time and had to play a lot of the second half a man down.

“We went down six points and very nearly pulled it out of the bag. We’re just going through a rough patch at the moment, for one particular reason or another.

“But that’s the way it goes and I’m very proud of my guys, very proud of the way they fought, blocked, tackled and hassled.

“They didn’t deserve to lose that one.”

Fitzgerald admitted: “It’s tough, losing games by points that you could win.

“But at the same time, I don’t care if we lose the next and go out of the championship, we’ll go back training and we’ll come back next year and the year after.

“As long as I’m over Clare, we’ll keep fighting.

“While we might have a few knockers, there are good people in Clare, we have some destructive ones but you have an awful lot of good ones.

“I’m thrilled with the support we’ve got this year for the team. They stood behind us and fair play to them.

“They’re good and we’ll do our best for them.”

At full-time, confusion reigned as Clare believed that four additional minutes would be played, as signalled by the sideline official. But referee Colm Lyons had indicated that just one minute extra would be added on, as announced over the public address system.

A breakdown in communication on the touchline left Clare feeling aggrieved.

Fitzgerald revealed: “The players thought four and I thought four.

“That’s why I wasn’t worried. I thought we’d definitely get a leveller.

“When they were coming out with the ball I thought Limerick overplayed it at the end; I thought we could have got a free,” said the Clare boss.

“They are decisions in the last year, if you look at it, we’re not getting them. In saying that I thought Limerick’s character today was phenomenal.

“I thought they fought tooth and nail, and fair play to them. It was a great game.”