It was one-way traffic at the start on Saturday evening in Thurles. Clare began very well and the metrics of their wellbeing were in good order: Tony Kelly had a couple of points and Shane O’Donnell was winning ball.Dublin were under serious pressure, trying to play it short but not having any real outlets up front. It looked all very straightforward for Clare until the 26th minute.An interesting coincidence is that the trends of Clare’s early dominance and Dublin’s huge revival both ended with fouls that weren’t given by referee James Owens to Diarmuid Ryan and Ronan Hayes, respectively.Dónal Burke had just trimmed the eight-point deficit to seven when Ryan should have had a free in front of the posts. The referee didn’t see it that way and Dublin went without conceding a score for 16 minutes and reduced the margin to three by half-time and to the minimum by the 40th minute.Then Clare had just extended that one-point lead in the 42nd minute when Hayes was penalised for over-carrying when he should have been awarded a free for a foul by Darragh Lohan. Clare went straight back up the field and Shane Meehan pointed and the lead was three.From there they stretched back out the gap, outscoring their opponents by 0-8 to 0-1 in the third quarter.Brian Lohan ended the game though with plenty to concern him. Most obviously there was the desperate injury to David Reidy. The foul by Brendan Kenny didn’t jump out at the time but it was reckless and deserving of the red card.Clare's Conor Leen with referee James Owens as David Reidy receives medical treatment for a head injury. Photograph: Tom O'Hanlon/Inpho I agree with the Clare manager that this is something that needs to be consistently enforced. Players are being encouraged to believe they have more latitude than is acceptable when it comes to head-high challenges.There are also problems with the other injuries picked up, with the central defensive pair of full back Conor Cleary, who had been enjoying an excellent first half when he had to go off, and centre back David McInerney, who didn’t look in great shape when hobbling off in the closing minutes.Another issue is that when they lost the initiative, it was the Dublin half backs that started to dominate the puckouts, plus that Clare committed so many fouls. Dónal Burke led the charge before half-time and of his 0-9, seven came from frees.On the positive side, Clare have reached a fourth All-Ireland semi-final in five years and with some very good play. Aside from O’Donnell and Kelly, who didn’t manage to sustain their blistering start, it was their younger players who did a lot of the heavy lifting.Seán Rynne was a constant threat, finishing with five from play. Niall O’Farrell was very composed at wing back and fired over an important point as Clare regained control of the narrative. I was surprised that Diarmuid Stritch wasn’t starting and wondered was he recovering from an injury, but he brought great energy when coming in off the bench, popping up everywhere around the middle third.It was also encouraging to Mark Rodgers and Ryan Taylor, back from their injury problems. Rodgers didn’t look quite there yet but he had a busy three quarters before being replaced and arguably had a good claim to a penalty not awarded. Taylor wasn’t as prominent as usual but he put in a selfless shift tracking Brian Hayes around the middle.I had no arguments with Éibhear Quiligan’s MOTM award. He made several superb saves as Dublin went for goals relentlessly. Again, Clare will be concerned to pinpoint why they are giving up so many chances.Niall Ó Ceallacháin is probably reflecting on a disappointing season, which promised so much at one point. Finishing top of the Leinster round robin was a solid achievement but when the challenges got more difficult in Croke Park, against Galway, and Thurles on Saturday, Dublin simply didn’t have the answers.It hasn’t been a great weekend for Leinster hurling. On Sunday, back in Thurles, Cork simply blew Offaly out of the water. There was a massive gulf between the teams. Alan Walsh scored a goal at the start and added another. Cork had scored three after 15 minutes. My original feeling was that this was a free shot for Offaly. They had done exceptionally well to qualify from Leinster and reach an All-Ireland quarter-final but now I wonder. They showed great spirit to come back and retrieve a couple of goals themselves but what does it say about Leinster?Offaly drew with Kilkenny and Dublin and were competitive with Galway. This was simply never a contest. For Cork, the worry is that a big win over Dublin last year ultimately did them no good.There was, though, much to have Ben O’Connor happy with the afternoon. He managed to rest players such as William Buckley and give others a run. Darragh Fitzgibbon got some game time into his legs and Robbie O’Flynn was powerful on the ball.At a time when Clare are losing players to injury, Cork are bringing them back and at just the right time.