IT HAS been a weird and wonderful summer. Larry Murphy sits on the physio bench in the archaic dressing room in Wexford Park and unselfconsciously picks at a scab on his shin, then pulls up his socks to hide the tiny, healing abrasion.

Just a few moments earlier, Murphy, amateur hurler, full-time bank official, had been busily scrawling autographs for young and old alike, with a couple of awe-struck Spanish students giddily joining the queue.

Someone had told the young Spaniards that Murphy was the Gonzalez of hurling. Knowing a thing or two about marketing - he is a graduate of Carlow RTC - the Wexford wizard wasn't about to dispute the tag.

He loves it. Exuberant characters normally do. Why not? "It might never happen again in our careers," he said. "We could be another 20 years waiting. Might as well enjoy it."

The impromptu autograph signing had left a tingling sensation in his right hand. "That was harder than any weight-lifting session," he laughed. "But I wouldn't begrudge them. I'd stay out there all night writing my name if they wanted me to.

The magic of an All-Ireland Hurling Final has hit Wexford. When Larry Murphy, hurling superstar, walked into Mackens Travel in Wexford Town after earning the man-of-the-match plaudits in the Leinster Final win over Offaly, they gave him a nod and a wink. They knew another holiday cancellation. Just one of many but, this one, perhaps more bonefide than any of the others.

"When we booked our holiday to the Costa del Sol last January, I questioned aloud in the bank one day if I was doing the right thing. Wondered about a possible clash with the All-Ireland. Everyone laughed and said I'd have nothing to worry about. I said `you might eat your words yet' but, in all honesty, hand on heart, I didn't think we would be in the All-Ireland Final. No way," said Murphy.

The past eight months, however, have changed everything. The dream conceived over the winter months has almost become a reality. Kilkenny, Dublin, Offaly and Galway, in turn, have stood in Wexford's path and given way. Now, just two teams can get their hands on the Liam McCarthy Cup. Wexford and Limerick. The showdown at Croke Park next Sunday promises to be rather special.

It's been a summer of memories, a summer of emotion for Wexford hurlers and their supporters. For Murphy, the Leinster Final encapsulates it all from the tranquillity of the early morning when manager Liam Griffin had them out walking on the moor to the uncontrolled frenzy some hours later when they were crowned provincial king-pins for the first time in 19 years.

"I was bawling my eyes out, on the pitch, with five minutes to go. The tears were running down my face. Back in 1993, I remember saying `I have my Leinster medal now', next thing Eamonn Morrissey ran down the field and he took the medal out of my hand. He ran up the pitch and scored a point. I didn't want the same thing to happen against Offaly, so, with five minutes to go, myself and Tom Dempsey effed the referee out of it. Told him to blow the whistle. And he turns to us and says `lads, I guarantee you if Offaly score a goal I'll blow up fairly quick' and I said `you better, because you'll be killed otherwise'."

But something else sticks in his mind. Two days later, a rare visit to the pub and his first chance to analyse the video of the game. Next thing, a 6ft 4in 15-stone Wexfordman by the name of Peter Murphy - who just happens to be the forward's next door neighbour - appears on screen. The tears plunged down the supporter's face, for all the world to see. "God, I gave him some slagging," said Murphy. "But, really, that image just emphasised to me what our achievement meant to everyone."

Murphy's performance in the Leinster Final was pretty phenomenal. "One of those days when everything just went right," he conceded. Like the time he scored a point from an impossible angle, way out on the wing. "People have said, `jaysus, that was some point. But that could have gone into the Hogan Stand as soon as over the bar', it was just a hit and miss shot."

His `divil-may-care' attitude shouldn't fool anyone, however. Murphy, too, is taken by manager Griffin's approach to the mental side of preparation. "There is a joke around these parts, about Griff," said Murphy. "It goes like this. `What's the difference between God and Griffin? God doesn't think he is Griffin'. He's great, amazing. He has become a good friend. Yet, he knows when to draw the line and say `I'm the boss'.

"Last year, people were saying, `what does Griffin know about hurling? A man from Rosslare, how can he know anything. Sure they don't even have a senior team or an intermediate team out there'. So, Martin Storey pointed at the cup after we won the Leinster Final and said, `that's what Liam Griffin knows about hurling'. He learnt an awful lot from last year. He is so successful in his own business, in his own life, and he has added an awful lot of professionalism and maturity to Wexford hurling."

Murphy is an admirer of Griffin. Likes the way he analyses the opposition, studies videos to discover their strengths and weaknesses. "For years, the Wexford mentality was to pull a bit square, a bit dirty. You don't win anything that way. It's all about controlled aggression, winning the ball. Playing it into the forwards. Simple hurling. Simple and direct and it's a lot more pleasing to the crowd, as well," he said.

"When you're playing well, you start feeling a bit better. It's like an endless circle. It keeps going and going and going. But that's what success does for you. If we'd got beaten by Kilkenny (in the first round) we were back to square one again. Even worse, because we'd trained so hard.

"This year, the biggest difference to us was that, like studying for an exam, we knew we had put in the work. That's been proven in our matches our fitness has been up, our mentality has been different. It never entered our minds that we could lose."

When Murphy first tugged on the Wexford jersey to play a competitive senior match, Limerick provided the opposition. That was back in 1993, a National League semi-final in Thurles. Next Sunday, the stakes are even higher. One of them will offer the Liam McCarthy Cup a home.

"Limerick's record over the past three years, losing just one game in the Munster championship, speaks for itself. That's a feat in itself. Their style probably doesn't appeal to everyone they play a more physical and more direct game, play it hard in the sort of Galway mould. But I think they are a very under-rated-team. Limerick are the only team in Ireland as hungry as Wexford for success and they want to lay the ghosts of 1994 to rest. It is a tremendous challenge for us," said Murphy.

Wexford - the 1996 version - are, however, learning to relish challenges.