Head high tackles are what the GAA have been keen to crack down on this summer but the application of the rule regarding them over the weekend left a lot to be desired.

Martin Kavanagh fired 11 points for Carlow, but he was unable to get them over the line for victory as Galway claimed the win in their Leinster SHC opener at Pearse Stadium.

Cork captain Seamus Harnedy will come face to face with the referee who has sent him off twice in the last 15 months in Sunday week’s Munster SHC Round 1 game against Tipperary.

Waterford 1-18 Galway 0-19

To give an idea of just how glaring Clare’s concession of 15 pointed frees (24 in total) was on Saturday night, it’s one less than the placed balls that have been scored against Limerick across the first three rounds.

Liam Sheedy didn’t require much coaxing to part company with his views on referee Colm Lyons’ performance.

Clare co-manager Gerry O’Connor doubts that Tony Kelly’s red card last Saturday week would be shown in the Championship.

Yesterday was a day for hurling referees to step up to the mark and both James McGrath and Fergal Horgan did just that, in Semple Stadium and Croke Park.

Clare co-manager Donal Moloney will be on the sideline for Sunday’s Munster SHC final round game against Limerick — despite being handed down a significant suspension.

Barry Kelly hasn’t retired. Not officially, anyway. The 2017 season was his last as an inter-county referee but not as a match official.

Galway football captain Damien Comer has credited Paddy Tally with bringing greater directness to the county’s attacking play.

NA PIARSAIGH (Limerick) 2-19 - CUALA (Dublin) 1-22 (after extra time): Two things you don’t often see at Croke Park; snow on St Patrick’s Day and Con O’Callaghan wasting chances for scores.

Divisional side Imokilly have bridged a 19-year gap to claim the Cork SHC title at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Clare 3-16 Tipperary 0-28: Tipp’s experience was a significant factor in their three-point win over Clare in last Saturday’s All-Ireland SHC quarter-final, the reigning All-Ireland champions hitting decisive scores in the closing stages of both halves to land a semi-final berth.

Tipp’s experience was vital in Páirc Uí Chaoimh today as they showed all their nous to edge out Clare in the All-Ireland SHC quarter-final, hitting five points in the closing stages for a three-point win, writes Michael Moynihan.

This Limerick U21 team carries shades of last year’s Waterford class.

He may be one of the most celebrated faces of Cork’s burgeoning IT industry but the architectural passion pumping the blood of Cork entrepreneur DC Cahalane is never far from the surface.

Met the proverbial — and in this case corporeal — man in the street the day before the league quarter-finals. The man in the street in question is a keen punter, often to be espied going in and out of his local Ladbrokes.

Galway 2-19 Offaly 2-9: It was a day when Galway did all that was required of them and not a lot more to advance to a Leinster final meeting with Kilkenny in a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland decider.

Dungourney 1-21 Cloughduv 0-11: Dungourney are the Cork junior hurling champions for the first time in their history after a fully-merited 13-point victory at Páirc Uí Rinn last night.

Valley Rovers 1-14 Ballinhassig 0-15: The graph remains on an upward curve for Valley Rovers. Despite looking vulnerable earlier in the season, they delivered yet again in the Cork Premier IHC semi-final.

Newtownshandrum 3-18 Blackrock 1-18: A dynamic display from Newtownshandrum in Mallow yesterday saw them advance to a Cork SHC quarter-final tie with Glen Rovers.

Limerick may yet decide to bring Seanie Tobin’s disciplinary case to the Central Appeals Committee (CAC) after the Central Hearings Committee upheld the proposed one-match ban on Thursday evening.

As sure as night follows day, the opening of the championship prompts the usual suspect collection of talking points. The structure of the competition.

Hurling coaches are choking the game to death. What materialised inside the whitewash at Thurles on Sunday reaffirmed my concerns for the game. 

Clare’s defeat to Limerick in Sunday’s Munster quarter-final makes it irrelevant, but they risked forfeiture after togging out a player not on their 26-man registered panel.

"They are decisions in the last year. If you look at it, we’re not getting them."

Tributes have been pouring in for RTÉ sports broadcaster Bill O’ Herlihy who passed away today at the age of 76; Averil Power has resigned from Fianna Fáil and the Westboro Baptist Church can’t work out the Irish tricolour. Just some of the latest and most read stories on irishexaminer.com.

I was in the RTÉ radio booth in the cockpit of the Kinnane Stand yesterday, when the fourth official signalled there would be just one minute of injury-time.

The two live TV games yesterday were boosted by impressive performances by both referees who applied the rules consistently.

Davy Fitzgerald was oh so careful with his words.

Clare 2-15 Limerick 1-19: The margins were fine in Thurles even if the hurling wasn’t.

There was a stormy confrontation outside the referees’ room in Semple Stadium yesterday with Clare management confronting Munster Council officials seeking an explanation for the amount of injury time played at the end of yesterday’s Clare-Limerick Munster Championship game.

When the guns fell silent yesterday in Thurles, TJ Ryan hit the fourth estate with the perfect exit line: “I’d say ye’ll be writing deep into the night, lads.”

Adare's John Fitzgibbon was the hero for Limerick but Clare were left counting the cost of their indiscipline in a niggly and sometimes ugly Munster quarter-final.

Bride Rovers 3-18 Bishopstown 0-25 (after extra- time)

Ballincollig 1-15 St Finbarr’s 1-12: Let’s put to one side for a second Ballincollig’s successful opening bout in their county title defence, that much we expected, for the more pressing items emerging from Páirc Uí Rinn were Patrick Kelly’s ongoing struggle with a calf injury and the straight red card shown to John Miskella.

Richie Power has criticised the performance of referee Colm Lyons in Sunday’s Division 1A game between Kilkenny and Dublin in Nowlan Park.