Within the space of a few hours, Clare hurling went from an extreme high to a very disappointing low.
It goes without saying that the story of last weekend was Tulla winning the Dr Harty Cup for the very first time.
Considering the size of the school, and also the fact that only 50% are males, what they achieved in the TUS Gaelic Grounds on Saturday was nothing short of phenomenal.
Harty Cup days can create memories of a lifetime, and I can vouch for that. Back in 2010 and 2011, Ard Scoil Rís came from relatively nowhere to land back-to-back Hartys.
Up to then it was predominantly a rugby school, and within a few years, that all changed. It was most definitely a springboard and a starting point for what followed in Limerick hurling for the next decade. Winning something for the first time, or even for the first time in a long time, is hard bate!
The memories and the craic and the bond that is created is just special. And I have no doubt that the players, management, supporters and the school in full of Tulla will remember that day for the rest of their lives.
But what's important is that it's not a once off. Because while once offs are great, it's backing it up with consistency that creates results going forward, for both the school and the county.
Now I don't mean winning it year in, year out, but getting to knockout stages, developing and exposing players to high level hurling on a regular basis - that will set them up nicely for their clubs and their county going forward.
And for Clare hurling, that is what's needed. Because a few hours later, if you were a Clare supporter, I would imagine you would have been fairly dejected leaving Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Leeside having witnessed the Baner fall to a 2-30 to 2-21 defeat.
I saw one point that Anthony Daly made after the game in relation to effort and work-rate. Now you can make what you want of the terminology 'work-rate’ because I firmly believe that it gets thrown out there way too much without understanding what it really means, or better again, what it really takes.
We all have off days, but the most concerning element for the Banner County is that Cork more often than not, had buckets of space, and if you leave Cork in space, we all know what happens. If you don’t leave Cork in space, we also know what happens. The Clare puck-out was the big talking point after the game. This is not something that can be turned around in a few weeks.
It's Lohan and his management team's third year, so you would imagine they would have loads of work done at this stage. Now I know they are missing some of their main players, but still, that shouldn’t change much with what's happening on the field in terms of processes, game-plans, and work-rate.
Cork are Cork, and when they are let hurl, by God they will punish you. Round 1, so I wouldn’t get carried away with Cork, it was more Clare I was concerned about.
A lot of people were shocked at what happened in Wexford Park. I wasn’t.
Limerick should have had too much, considering pre-season games, but that will tell you exactly what those games mean. Limerick are probably four to six weeks behind most teams. Between finishing last, holidays and time off, they are probably undercooked for the time of the year, and rightly so.
Other teams under new management would have started weeks ago, would have got stuck into work long before Limerick. And that’s exactly how it looked in Wexford. Not that I am taking away from Wexford.
They were clever in their approach, and executed some fine scores. But a big difference from a gusty Wexford Park in February to a sun-drenched Croker in June or July.
Dublin and Waterford was everything Cork and Clare wasn’t. A dogfight, a battle, big hits. They looked like two teams that really wanted to leave everything on the pitch. I know the Dubs have a good bit of work done, so I was expecting a big show from them.
When you look at Waterford, they seem to be in a good position. Conor Prunty at full-back, Tadhg de Burca to come in at centre-back, Jack Fagan back to half-back, Austin Gleeson at 11, DJ Foran at 12. All big men, with the Ballygunner lads to come back. For me, they are best positioned at this moment to take down Limerick.
Galway got the show on the road against Offaly but come to Limerick this weekend, and that will show where they really are. Kilkenny struggled past Antrim and Tipperary scraped through against Laois.
There's a lot of good games in store this weekend, and a feast of hurling, but there is only one main game on show this weekend in HQ - Ballyhale v Ballygunner in the club final.
All year, I have thought Ballygunner would go all the way. They have a serious side. Now of course so do Ballyhale, but as I said earlier, when you try win something for the first time, or the first time in a long time, the hunger and desire is something to behold.
On top of that, Ballyhale have struggled through a number of their games, no more so than the semi-final. A game they shouldn’t have won.
Sometimes they say a sign of a great team is when you play badly and still find a way to win. Yeah, you can look at it that way, or sometimes I look the other way. When you are playing badly, and struggling to win a few games, how long can you keep that going for?
Either way, it’s a game I can't wait sit down to watch. All-Ireland Club final day is special. Will it be the boys of Ballyhale, who have been there and done it, or the boys of Ballygunner who will find the breakthrough?
One way or another, it could be one of the club final classics.
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