Clare's hurlers will be without three key players for the Championship.

Sean Óg Ó hAilpín has bemoaned Cork’s recent difficulties in Croke Park and suggested that John Meyler’s side would have “hammered” Limerick in the All-Ireland semi-final had the game been transplanted back to Munster.

Stephen Barry picks out three talking points from yesterday's Munster final in Thurles...

Miltown Malbay is guaranteed to be cock-a-hoop next week when the Willie Clancy Festival throws in, but you might mistake it for starting early if hometown man Conor Cleary is part of a first Munster SHC-winning Clare side in 20 years this Sunday.

If it counts for anything — and it should — Clare feel they are more deserving of their Munster final spot this year than last season’s appearance, according to Shane O’Donnell.

Clare absolutely cashed in those chips when the roulette wheel seemed about to spin off the table, writes Anthony Daly

I came in for a bit of criticism during the week about Offaly football matters, which I’ll come back to shortly, but I’m never going to shy away from calling it like I see it. At referees seminars, I would have been known for speaking my mind, whether I was right or wrong, and it’s an attitude I’ll be sticking to here, writes Brian Gavin.

The Munster SHC will boil down to whichever team has put in place the most effective recovery programme for between games, Clare joint-manager Gerry O’Connor has insisted.

There is no such thing as a bad Cork hurling team, Clare captain Pat O’Connor has insisted.

Over 20 years on, Davy Fitzgerald still wants to win everything as badly as ever, writes Anthony Daly

Michael Harrington leads the Munster team in the first All-Ireland series at Grenagh this weekend. The Killarney man is hoping to make history as the first Kerry native to win the title when he faces Paul Rafferty on Saturday.

Five Things We Found Out

Clare’s victory over Dublin will count for nothing unless it is backed up with a result against Waterford in their final round-robin game, according to Brendan Bugler.

Dublin’s 2013 All-Ireland winning skills coach Mick Bohan has described Kerry as the “best kickers” in the game and believes their proficiency in this department has enabled them to keep in touch with Dublin and Mayo.

Stephen Cluxton’s long-time auxiliary John Leonard’s award-winning Dub Sub Confidential autobiography last year gave the greatest insight into the goalkeeper. 

Clare boss Davy Fitzgerald has revealed that exciting young defender Oisín O’Brien underwent emergency surgery on a punctured lung in an Austrian hospital earlier this month.

Shane O’Donnell is expected to be out of action for a month after sustaining a foot injury. It is believed he picked up the setback in last Sunday’s Division 1B win over Limerick in Ennis.

Cork’s eight-time All-Ireland ladies senior medallist Juliet Murphy has admitted that she misses the buzz of inter- county football.

For Cork GAA supporters in Croke Park on Saturday night there was a difference in the categories of pain on offer. Do you like your hope crushed early doors or snuffed out with the finishing line in sight?

Fr Peter Quinn, a hero of Mayo’s All-Ireland SFC victories in 1950 and 1951, has died.

Jim Gavin accepts that players on both sides crossed the line at times in yesterday’s drawn encounter, but he kept his counsel on individual incidents and whether or not an appeal would be launched against Diarmuid Connolly’s red card.

James O’Donoghue has recovered to take his place in the Kerry side to play Tyrone in Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC semi-final in Croke Park (throw-in 3.30pm).

Mayo admit they may not be able to satisfy the ticket orders from their clubs for Sunday week’s All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin.

Eamonn Fitzmaurice has displayed his bold streak once again by altering more than a quarter of his Kerry team for Saturday’s Munster football final replay with Cork.

I have given the Cork team and management the benefit of the doubt over the past three years, a point I was reminded of by an old Waterford friend departing Semple Stadium on Sunday evening.

The storylines for this weekend's GAA in pictures.

Needless to say, a championship meeting with Waterford means something more to Seamus Harnedy than most of his Cork colleagues.

Galway captain David Collins isn’t afraid to say it — his team have suffered a collective mental hang-up in recent years.

 

Colm O’Neill will say goals have never come easy to him but then why does scoring them seem more natural to him than most others? 

It takes more than guts to come back. Mayo fall guys in All-Ireland finals usually stay fallen. Dermot Geraghty never recovered from 2004. Dermot Flanagan admittedly was on his way out in 1997. But when 2012 befell Kevin Keane he had time on his side.

There is a phenomenon in the media when it comes to war reporting. The initial days are guaranteed to capture everyone’s attention. Then, slowly but surely, the fatigue sets in.

One of the clubs behind the new concussion substitution proposal for Gaelic football and hurling admits it’s open to abuse. 

While reflecting on Tuesday’s first round Sigerson Cup rout of Cork IT, Billy Morgan revealed the UCC management had spent several hours the night previous deliberating over a starting XV.

Cork goalkeeper Anthony Nash admitted he’s got some big decisions to make after experiencing a one-on-one penalty first hand.

I’m 37 years old. As such I consider myself not far removed from the present generation of players and I am of a similar vintage to the growing pool of ‘young’ managers, such as Kieran McGeeney, Jason Ryan, James Horan, Jim McGuinness and Eamonn Fitzmaurice.

Cork 2-23 Clare 2-18

Does your nana love sport? Because this one adores NBA basketball!