It was sometime around 4am on the Sunday morning of the 1980 All-Ireland final when Sean Silke was jolted from his sleep.

Looked at in isolation, Galway’s feat in winning back-to-back All-Ireland titles in 1987-88 represented a major leap forward for a county more used to feeding off scraps from hurling’s elite.

It was the day of the first 70-minute All Ireland final.

GALWAY recorded their first championship win over Cork in 1975 but then made something of a habit of it with victories in 1979, 1985, 2002 and 2009.