But it was a shock to see that figure in Cork. Was it justified? You can’t say it was. There was plenty of niggle alright and a few rows broke out towards the end, which needed to be sorted by James Owens, but 14 was on the excessive side.

Some Cork supporters will condemn his decision to send off Seán O’Donoghue and pinpoint that as the turning point of the game. It might have been but the Cork captain could have no complaints. His second yellow was a deliberate body collision on Shane O’Donnell, a black card offence if it was in Gaelic football. A foul that was completely unnecessary and it cost Cork.

Look at the other end of the field where Clare defenders were picking up yellow cards, some they might have felt necessary, but crucially not repeating those fouls and putting their team at risk. When they analyse the game in the cold light of day, Cork have to look at themselves, not Owens.

However, Owens is coming in for criticism, a lot of it unfair, and he didn’t go out with the intention to make the game all about himself. But I do feel he has some of the confidence that has made him one of the leading referees in the country.

I’ve mentioned how in the last couple of years morale has been low among the national hurling panel. Some have reacted well to it but I’m not sure about James. It feels like he is lacking confidence and when that happens you can get too fussy, which is what he was accused of in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

I’ve mentioned before how much pressure there is on referees in these home-away situations and with over 36,000 in the Páirc there was plenty of it in this game, which might as well have been knock-out.

From my time, there would be occasions when you would read in the newspapers for a day or two after a game that a free you gave was the difference. Those things you have to deal with and I hope James can because he is an asset.

I hope too that the GAA are working with referees when they are lacking belief in themselves. It’s important that they know they are not alone in such situations and while they might feel the brunt of it on social media, in the inner sanctum of the referees administration somebody has their backs.

Compared to Owens, Liam Gordon had an easy time of it in Limerick thanks to how easy the All-Ireland champions had it against Tipperary. Gordon had a tricky Munster final last year and didn’t get another game for the remainder of the championship but he is a referee whose belief is increasing with the volume of games he is appointed to.

In the Galway-Kilkenny game in Salthill, Thomas Walsh blew for about 10 to 12 frees in the first half. His style of refereeing is one I really like and he looked stress-free. However, he could have done with a slow whistle when TJ Reid was running onto a possession. If the play had developed it would have surely made for a Kilkenny goal.

A week after he refereed in Ennis, it was strange to see Colm Lyons taking charge of the Antrim-Wexford game in Belfast on Saturday afternoon. That’s a four-hour plus drive from Cork but he didn’t show much signs of fatigue. In fact, he was sharper than he was in Cusack Park.

The square ball rule raised its head again and once more he spoke to his umpires. One of them was keen to give the goal but the right decision was made.

Lyons was also on the money with awarding Wexford a penalty. It was a talking point and you could understand why Antrim were aggrieved but when you boil it down there was justification.

Towards the end, Darren Gleeson was booked for remonstrating but Lyons’ handling of the game never wavered and it’s a reasonably good start he has made to the championship.

In Tullamore on Saturday, new referee Brian Keon sent off Offaly captain Jason Sampson just 30 seconds into their Joe McDonagh Cup game. On first sighting, there didn’t appear to be much in it but Sampson gave Keon enough reason to dismiss him. He later showed Westmeath’s Darragh Egerton a red card for loose use of the hurl and he could have no complaints.

Offaly ended up winning the game just as Armagh did in their Ulster SFC semi-final but they have reason to feel hard done by with Liam Devenney’s managing of the game on a number of occasions. Before Down scored their second goal, Armagh should have been awarded a free out.