Galway 2-24
Clare 3-17

It was great, given all the hullabaloo down in Cork, for things to get back to normal on the opening day of the national league on Sunday as Mike McNamara and Ger Loughnane opened both barrels and let fly at the standard of refereeing.

Galways Iarla Tannian in action during Sundays game in Pearse Stadium. Photo: Reg Gordon.

In fairness, neither manager was being specifically critical of Tipperary official Seamus Roche but rather the stringent new guidelines laid down to referees by GAA bosses.

Here was a game with three dismissals, three penalties and 39 frees on a benign afternoon for hurling. Put simply, the game was ruined by the refereeing and the frustration felt by Loughnane and McNamara afterwards was probably felt by most in the crowd of about 4,000 at Pearse Stadium.

Both fielded new-look sides with McNamara lowering the blade the most as the Bannermen fielded five debutants and a couple of more who had never seen a full game in the county jersey.

But any hope of gaining a good assessment of the two teams died inside three minutes when one of those debutants, wing-forward David Barrett was red-carded on the advice of the umpires for an apparent off-the-ball swipe at Ger Mahon.

That tipped the balance in Galway's favour but they finished with fewer men after full-back Tony Og Regan and centre-back John Lee received second yellow cards.

"Referees are under fierce pressure. I thought Seamus Roche applied the rules as they are now. It is not Seamus or any other referees, it is the people making those rules. They are going to destroy the game completely. There will be no physical contact in it," said Loughnane.

His former Clare selector Mike McNamara said there was a need for more commonsense. "There has to be a better system than a referee running around the place asking fellas did they see anything," he said.

McNamara said that the third minute dismissal of Barrett destroyed the game and he also feared what it might do to the Newmarket clubman's career.

Another debutant, corner-forward Mark Flaherty, also had a remarkable start to his inter-county career, scoring 3-8 but still ending up on the losing side!

All but a goal came from placed balls by the Killanena clubman but it was the sharp-shooter at the other end, Galway's Ger Farragher, who did most to capture the two points.

Farragher, who failed to nail down a starting spot in Loughnane's first year in charge, has worked hard over the winter and shot 1-11, all but three points from placed balls, to crown a fine display. Iarla Tannian, although playing well away from his full-forward slot, hit 0-5 from play while speedster Aonghus Callanan and the equally sharp Niall Healy contributed 1-2 and 0-3 respectively to give Loughnane plenty to smile about.