Phoney War or Cold War? A bit of both, really.

It might be very early in the hurling year for markers to be plunged into forgiving soft ground, while, if they are, any notion that they could be a barometer for how the season might unfold is foolhardy.

Podge Collins is “not too sure” where Clare are in the pecking order of hurling sides facing into 2020.

Delegates to the Clare GAA Convention have given their unanimous support to long-standing secretary Pat Fitzgerald after it was revealed that the war between the top table of the county board and alleged online trolls is now the subject of a Garda investigation.

Clare hurler David Reidy had a rather robust — certainly, unorthodox — first encounter with new Banner manager Brian Lohan.

On Wednesday night, Mulqueen issued a statement which revealed he was pulling out of the race to become Clare manager.

When Ger Loughnane brought out his book 18 years ago, he had the whole pick of Ireland to launch it for him.

Before I led the Clarecastle team out at half-time of yesterday’s Clare county final, to collect our 25-year anniversary plaques, somebody handed me the 1994 county final programme. We beat a young St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield team that afternoon and, as I scanned the teams, Ger Hoey’s name jumped out at me.

For 12 years they didn’t speak to one another but for the sake of their club Tim Crowe and Davy Fitzgerald yesterday combined forces to guide Sixmilebridge to their fourth Clare SHC title in seven years.

Cathal Malone was in marvellous form as he helped guide Sixmilebridge to their fourth Clare SHC title this decade, their third in five seasons.

Fr Harry Bohan is 80 but you wouldn’t know it.

It will be at least another three weeks before Clare will appoint a senior hurling manager for 2020.

The 2019 Clare senior hurling panel have expressed their frustration at not being consulted on the managerial selection process.

Although Moloney — joint manager with Gerry O’Connor last year — was invited to put his name forward, county chairman Joe Cooney confirmed that officials were also exploring alternatives to the Scarriff man taking sole charge of the team in 2020.

First called up to the senior panel by Davy Fitzgerald in 2012, Duggan will fly to Melbourne in November and plans to stay there for a year, as he confirmed to The Clare Echo.

Tom Barron was the hero of the hour as Waterford ended a 13-year wait for a Munster championship win at Fraher Field last night.

Not for the first time in Clare jerseys, David Tubridy and Gary Brennan rose to the occasion with huge displays to propel their team to victory in Mullingar and to within touching distance of the Super 8s.

Clare forward David Tubridy says confidence is building all the time as the Banner look to move one step closer to the Super 8s.

Cian Locke Dónal Óg Cusack was blown away by Davy Fitzgerald’s attention to detail when the pair met up to discuss Cusack joining Fitzgerald’s Clare management team.

Clare midfielder Gary Brennan reckons a bigger degree of consistency could take them into the Super 8s.

For the fourth year in a row Clare followed their Munster Championship exit to Kerry with victory in their opening qualifier game of the summer, but the challenge for Colm Collins’ side is to to put

Big enough to expect a win, small enough to fear a defeat — that’s the position Clare are in travelling to Carrick-on-Shannon this evening.

Sport makes grown adults do silly things. Hurling sillier. Its frenzied nature plays on your most basic fears.

Clare restored pride with a battling performance but exited the Munster championship yesterday despite beating Cork in Ennis.

Despite holding a six point lead, Clare were made sweat till the final seconds to secure their place in the provincial final

There was a famous photograph taken in 2000 at a Leinster U21 final, shortly after Offaly had dethroned Cork to reach the All-Ireland senior final, where they were due to square up to Kilkenny again.

It’s seldom football talk isn’t top of David Tubridy’s conversation agenda during the month of June.

RTÉ pundits Ken McGrath and Jackie Tyrrell were scathing about the performances of Clare and Waterford in today’s Munster double-header.

These days, Niall Gilligan and Eamonn Corcoran find themselves in similar social circles - Gilligan is an auctioneer in his native Sixmilebridge while Corcoran is Head of Bank of Ireland for Clare.

He’s at the beginning of what he hopes will be a long inter-county career with Clare, but Diarmuid Ryan has come to realise there are more important things in life than hurling.

Ian Galvin has returned to contact training giving Clare joint managers Donal Moloney and Gerry O’Connor an extra option in attack for Sunday’s Munster senior hurling championship tie with Tipperary in Cusack Park.

Eoin Cleary admits the Clare footballers must improve their shot-selection if they are to shock Kerry in Saturday’s Munster SFC semi-final.

It’s almost 25 years since Brian Lohan won the first of his two All-Ireland senior medals with Clare, yet the legendary full-back shows no signs of losing his abrasive edge.

Late points from Conner Hegarty, Dylan Downes and Keith Smyth saw Clare over the line in a tight and tense curtain raiser in Walsh Park that was level seven times.

Clare secured safe passage to a fifth Munster semi-final meeting with Kerry in six years, but what they produced in this desperately poor provincial quarter-final fixture won’t be anywhere near sufficient to even remotely trouble Kerry.

The scoreboard won’t contain the only numbers that matter to Peter Duggan this month.

Clare’s Munster and All-Ireland hurling ambitions have been significantly compromised by the loss of a trio of players for what appears to be the entirety of the championship season.

Retiring inter-county referee Rory Hickey has revealed details of the abusive letters sent to him during a 20-year stint with the whistle.

Tickets for one of the most eagerly awaited Munster senior hurling championships go on sale tomorrow and the provincial council are expecting strong sales.

Munster minor football finalists in the last two seasons, Clare began their 2019 campaign with a comfortable 14-point win over Limerick in Newcastle West.

Clare GAA chiefs are confident their long-running battle with an infestation of Japanese knotweed next to Cusack Park is close to a conclusion.

Clare legend Anthony Daly says the decision to grant Waterford home advantage for their Munster SHC games this summer has blown the provincial championship “wide open”.

Donal Moloney has seen a lot of hurling in his time, but yesterday in Cusack Park represented something of a first for him.

After exchanging a few heated words with the Clare sideline in the closing minutes, John Kiely was a model of diplomacy and even bonhomie upon Paud O’Dwyer’s final whistle.