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.

Clare hurling joint manager Gerry O’Connor has identified a trio of national league games that he thinks will prime the Banner for a tilt at the Munster championship next summer.

Cratloe 1-14 Kilmaley 0-16

Corner-back on Clare’s all-conquering teams in 1995 and 1997, but now resident across the border in Oranmore, home of Galway centre-back Gearóid McInerney, Frank Lohan is well-placed to tackle the main questions heading into tomorrow’s All-Ireland semi-final replay between the two counties.

First All-Ireland quarter-final win in five years. First time heading back to Croke Park in five years. Redemption for a Munster final that didn’t go to plan. Visible progress — at long, long last.

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

The Munster crown weighed heavy on Cork’s head last year but it shouldn’t be a burden this time around.

David Reidy is also named to start having had his controversial red card from the Limerick game rescinded.

Podge Collins fancies a resurgent Clare will be buoyed by the opportunity to maintain their fine home championship record in Cusack Park against Limerick.

Derek McGrath has taken responsibility for the litany of injuries which derailed their Munster SHC opener, saying management may have “went a step too far” in their preparations.

I was on co-commentary duty with RTÉ yesterday for the game in Limerick, which the Treaty won impressively. As a result I had to make do with watching the Cork-Clare game on TV, writes Donal O’Grady.

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.

Jamesie O’Connor believes the GAA has scored an own goal with their decision to play the Munster and Leinster senior hurling finals on the same day this summer.

The honours went to Waterford in this Allianz Hurling League Division 1A clash at Walsh Park yesterday, but it is important to note Clare were already guaranteed a quarter-final (pitted against Limerick).

The pressure is off, David Reidy declared.

Clare 4-17 Cork 0-18: The Munster Council have brought forward the Munster SHL final between Clare and Limerick by one week to avoid the counties meeting on successive weekends.

Ducking the issue of Sunday’s performance, Davy Fitzgerald seized the underdog factor, writes PM O’Sullivan.

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.

Enda McEvoy examines five lessons to take from the weekend’s action on Leeside...

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.

Aaron Cunningham claims Clare must beat Tipperary in Saturday’s All-Ireland quarter-final for this season to be even considered a good one for the county.

Lacking immediate inter-county action to contemplate, I got thinking about tangles subsumed under the heading ‘tactics’. 

Cork manager Kieran Kingston must be very pleased with this Munster Championship win. The final was a different game to the earlier wins by the Rebels.

It isn’t exactly Diarmuid O’Sullivan’s version of Father Ted’s Golden Cleric speech, but win a Munster title and what you’re given is a platform.

Yesterday was tough, in more ways than one. I wasn’t in Thurles because I watched the game from the RTÉ studios in Montrose. It felt weird but, in another way, it was easier. 

Having Dónal Óg Cusack on board is a big advantage, especially with Clare’s need to shut down Anthony Nash’s puckouts, particularly to Conor Lehane, writes Anthony Daly.

Two memories from the night of the 2005 All Stars. The Fat Frogs and my hot date.

Tomorrow’s encounter with the Banner will be a horse of a different colour to the previous two outings and will be the Rebels’ toughest game to date, writes Donal O’Grady.

If there’s a message Clare want to get across, it’s that they know their support will be outnumbered on Sunday.

Limerick manager John Kiely said his team had “made it too hard on ourselves” by letting Clare open an eight-point gap in the first half of yesterday’s Munster SHC semi-final.

Five Things We Found Out

The eternal tension arises between tradition and innovation. What we’ve always done, what we need to do now, and the trouble encountered in moving from one of those positions to the other.

Shane O’Donnell was selected on the B team at a Clare training session two weeks ago.

Nobody knows our troubles but God. Not exactly the words of Clare co-manager Gerry O’Connor after this game but close enough.

A superior Clare qualified for their first Munster final in nine years but not without difficulty as a combination of poor shooting and Limerick’s tenacity made them sweat until the end.