Captain's View: Wexford 1996
Martin Storey - Wexford v Limerick
WEXFORD'S victory last year was the county's first in 28 years and generated wild scenes of enthusiasm in the county. Martin Storey, one of the team's longest-serving players, captained the team. Regular defender Sean Flood failed a fitness test on the Saturday before Wexford survived having a man sent off to edge out the Munster champions.
"I remember the stop in the Stillorgan Park hotel. Seanie Flood's speech built it up because he broke down and that's a very hard thing to watch, but it had a positive effect. We realised what it meant to someone who was missing it and that brought it home to the rest of us.
"When we arrived at the ground, Liam Griffin (team manager) decided it was too hot and that we shouldn't watch the minor match. There was no point in togging out with an hour to go to the match, so we just stayed in the dressing-room yapping and trying to tell jokes. Some of us even had a hand of cards. It was time you didn't want to have on your hands.
"I knew Limerick had broken from the parade before we reached the Hill. Liam (Griffin) told us to make sure we marched in front of the Limerick supporters and we did, but we then had to march in front of our own. That was all there was to it. All the fuss afterwards blew it out of proportion.
"The match I remember well, although a few of the lads don't remember a stroke of it. I thought there were 10 minutes left when Limerick were awarded a free. I asked the ref and he said that it was the last puck of the match. When I got through the crowds to the presentation, I saw Liam Dunne (centre back and clubmate) was already there. I remember straight away thinking how the two of us had been going in and out of training for the last eight years together and now we'd done it."
Take Two: Munster 1st rd, 1983
Tipperary - 2-11, Clare - 1-11 Limerick Gaelic Grounds
The chief significance of this match was that it marked Tipperary's first championship victory of any sort at senior level in 10 years. Three unanswered points nailed down the victory, which was also notable for the impact made by a young Nicholas English, playing at centre forward on Sean Stack.
Tipperary's late scoring burst came after the teams had swapped goals in the last quarter, from Tom Waters and Enda O'Connor respectively.
This victory took place in current manager Len Gaynor's first year in charge of the Tipperary seniors. The team was to reach the Munster final in each of the following two years, but the breakthrough was four years away. Clare were between Munster finals, having contested the 1981 final against Limerick and failing narrowly to Cork in 1986.
Clubcall: Last winning captains
CLARE: Clarecastle (Anthony Daly, All-Ireland 1995) - Primarily a football club in its early years, Clarecastle won a senior title in 1908, only playing junior hurling up until the late 1920s. In 1928, seven Clarecastle men combined with Ennis to beat Newmarket in the county final, but it wasn't until 1943 that the first senior title came to the parish when they beat Scarriff. The Dalys, Russells, Willie McAllister, Chris Murphy and well-known New York GAA figure, Paddy Markham, guided them to two more titles in the '40s. Losing four county finals to Newmarket in the '60s, their next victory arrived in 1970. Two more followed in the '80s, as have two more already in the '90s. The club with the highest representation on the Clare panel were defeated in last year's final by Wolfe Tones.
Founded: 1887. No of senior championships: 8. Captain of All-Ire- land winning teams: Anthony Daly 1995. Parish base: Clarecastle, Clare Abbey and Killone. Current players on senior panel: Anthony Daly, Fergus Tuohy, Ger O'Loughlin, Ken Morrissey, Alan Neville. Population of catchment area: 2,500. Club members: 300. TIPPERARY: Toomevara (George Frend, National League 1994) - Founded in 1885, Toomevara won their first county senior hurling title just five years later. In 1910, led by Wedger Maher, they secured their second at a time when the senior team became known as the Toomevara Greyhounds, and two years later they had raced to their first three-in-a-row. Four more titles arrived before 1931 when the Hacketts, Garrett Howard and Martin Kennedy, who captained Tipperary and Munster in 1931, were to the fore of the club's success. Their 10th senior success arrived in 1960. A 32-year period without a title ended in 1992 and the club went on to secure its second three-in-a-row. Defeated in the 1994 All-Ireland club final, they were defeated in last year's county final by Boherlahan-Dualla. Founded: 1885. Number of senior championships: 13. Captain of All- Ireland winning teams: Matt Hassett 1961. Parish base: Toomevara. Current players on senior panel: Tommy Dunne, Justin Cottrell, George Frend. Population of catchment area: 1,500. Club members: 280.
