Given the fire and brimstone that Ger Loughnane and Tony Considine produced when they were in the same dugout, it was not unreasonable to expect some fireworks when they sent their own teams into battle against each other. But for all the off-field controversy, what transpired at Cusack Park in Ennis on Saturday night was more akin to a challenge match as both teams not only displayed a slackness in the basic skills of the game, but also a surprising lack of fight.

Clare 2-10 Galway 0-14

Two features epitomised the game with both sides guilty of appalling marking but despite this, neither side could turn chances into scores and the fact that each side shot 13 wides told its own story.