Yesterday afternoon, while trying to discover an original angle on the events of Sunday in Thurles, I received two - lengthy as they turned out - telephone calls. Both were from individuals closely connected with the Clare hurling team. Both felt aggrieved by the evolving coverage of the Munster hurling final replay.

One complaint was made against this newspaper - and justifiably. The headline on yesterday's report about the Munster Council's likely response linked the names of (Brian) Lohan and (Colin) Lynch with the use of video evidence.

The report itself did not actually make that connection as it was made clear that Lynch had a case to answer in relation to video evidence whereas Lohan and Waterford's Michael White had already been punished by being sent off and the only outstanding question was what suspension the council would impose.

Aside from the common perception of reporters being held responsible for headlines they don't write, there were a number of other points both callers wanted to make. All related to the perception they saw being generated that Clare were the main culprits in the outbreaks of indiscipline on Sunday. The main arguments are summarised below and will be answered later.

1) That Colin Lynch is being victimised and/ or demonised despite the fact there were other transgressors in Sunday's match and particularly in the drawn encounter the week before.

2) That there were incidents in the drawn match which escaped public controversy despite the fact that it was a more violent match, and there is no suggestion that video evidence from that match will be entertained by the Munster Council.

3) That Waterford's public statements calling for investigations of Sunday's match is a diversionary tactic to strengthen their chances of securing a postponement of next weekend's quarterfinal against Galway (a request since refused).

4) That the furore stirred up by the events in Thurles was a "trial by television/trial by media".

5) That account should be taken of Clare's hitherto excellent disciplinary record when apportioning blame.

Taking the positive points first, there is no doubt that Clare have brought discipline to their play over the years of their recent ascendancy. This year's Munster final was the first time in the six championships since they came to prominence that they have had players sent off. That is an impressive tribute to a team which can't function properly without being wound up to high levels of intensity.

There is similarly no doubt that the team has attracted attention this year for the increased physicality with which they are approaching matches. When questioned about the increasing frequency with which Clare's defence commits casual fouls to stop opponents, one insider accepted that it happened but that it didn't constitute a trend.

The real problem with the team's approach is that it requires opponents to be playing a different type of game if calamity is to be avoided. When a team as fired up as them collides with Clare, the line which separates hardness from meanness is going to be crossed. This is what arguably happened in the drawn match, although it is questionable to what extent Clare were fired up.

In general, whereas a good disciplinary record has to be taken into account in some cases, the deposits of goodwill will be quickly dissipated if the team continues to have men sent off at the rate of one-per-match.

The argument about the drawn match merits some consideration because it was the dominant influence on the events of the replay. Concerns were expressed by Clare about incidents involving Brian Greene/Niall Gilligan, Peter Queally/Ollie Baker and Dan Shanahan/Anthony Daly.

If these allegations can be resolved by video evidence - and there are disagreements as to the nature and intent involved - then there is a reasonable argument that such evidence be taken into account by the Munster Council.

It is a long walk, however, from that perspective to the point of view that Colin Lynch should be excused his wild strokes in the opening minutes, at the throw-in and later when tussling with Tony Browne and Peter Queally.

There was a prelude to the crazy scenes which attended the throw-in. Referee Willie Barrett left the field for all of 35 seconds to do a spot of stewarding on the sideline and while he was talking to Clare selector Tony Considine, the niggling and horsing started and had released sufficient levels of testosterone and adrenalin to leave things dangerously outside of Barrett's control by the time he returned.

Lynch was continually crashing into opposite number Browne, to the extent that the Waterford player approached the referee to draw his attention to the jostling. After the ball was eventually thrown in, Lynch pulled all around and managed to clip all the rest of the centrefielders, including team-mate Ollie Baker, before he was penalised on completing his round against Queally.

Shortly afterwards, he swapped blows with Browne and landed one that was considerably harder than his opponent managed. Continuing his tour, Lynch was able to arrive on the fringes of the main melee in time to get involved with Queally. After the referee had dismissed Lohan and White, a linesman drew his attention to the Lynch-Browne exchanges and both were booked.

There is no question of singling Lynch out for attention. If video evidence can be adduced against anyone else who was involved in unacceptable behaviour, it should be used and no one will quibble with anyone caught in the righteous trawl. But it has to be said that Lynch was the least inhibited transgressor last Sunday.

The failure to discipline Lynch appropriately at the weekend comes after incidents earlier in this year's championship which saw two players who admitted they might have been dismissed - Limerick's Joe Quaid and Offaly's Johnny Pilkington - instead remaining on the field.

Waterford's own intervention in the affair has been ludicrous. For a county board which is party to a controversy like this to start behaving like some sort of prosecution in advance of the investigation by the proper authority, in this case the Munster Council, is plainly inappropriate.

Furthermore, to imply that Michael White was hard done by in getting the line is a nonsense amply illustrated by his flailing stick (albeit that it didn't appear to connect) which was subsequently thrown to the ground so that he could grapple with Brian Lohan who had just whistled his own stick over White's head.

Their cases should be quite simply dealt with by one-month suspensions (by an anomaly, three-month suspensions are imposed for striking rather than attempting to strike, although the inchoate offence is enough to get you the line), but the Munster Council will have plenty of other things to occupy it between video analysis and trying to get a grip on the nomadic - and occasionally abusive - behaviour of team mentors.