Anthony Daly: Gulf to hurling elite widens on worrying weekend for Leinster 

Every county needs help. But you have to help yourself first. And if counties need that help, they have to demand it, from both inside and outside.

Cork's Diarmuid Healy with Eoin Burke of Offaly. Picture: INPHO/Tom O'Hanlon

Even now, 34 years on, I still vividly recall the giddiness and excitement I felt going to the 1992 All-Ireland football semi-final between Clare and Dublin. It was completely unchartered territory for the footballers but also alien territory for any Clare supporters. The Clare hordes from every nook and cranny of the county descended on Dublin that weekend like the Scottish Tartan Army took over Boston last week.

Clare just didn’t reach All-Ireland semi-finals, in any grade. The minor hurlers had been there twice, in 1981 and 1989, but nobody expected to be going there following the seniors. I had already three years senior experience but I made the absolute most of the footballers’ visit to Croke Park in 1992 because I never expected to see that stage as a player.