Sam Lines

Clubcall: County champions

Kerry - Laune Rangers: Founded in 1888, the club that took its name from a group of bailiff landlords who operated in the area in the mid 1800s won its first county senior championship a year later. By 1911 they had added four more titles, but after the Civil War, the club split into two separate teams, Killorglin and Shamrocks. In the 1930s and 40s, inspired by Murt Kelly, who won six All Irelands for Kerry, the Rangers played as a divisional team in East Kerry. When the Mid Kerry Board was founded in 1947, they combined with five other clubs to play as Mid Kerry, winning the championship in 1967 with eight Killorglin players. In 1970, however, they decided to go back on their own and in 1989 ended a 78-year barren spell. Three more titles have followed in the 1990s, as well as two Munster club titless. In 1996, they were crowned All-Ireland club champions.

Founded: 1888. Number of senior titles: 9. Current players on panel: Liam and Mike Hassett, Michael Francis Russell and Billy O'Shea. Captains of All-Ireland winning teams: None. Parish base: Killorglin. Population of catchment area: 2,500. Club members: 300.

Mayo - Knockmore: With the lack of numbers and clubs in north Mayo in the first half of this century, Knockmore was only founded in 1957. It took the club 10 years to find its feet, winning a North Mayo junior championship in 1967, but five years later they had captured the county intermediate title. In their first year in the senior grade, in 1973, they were crowned county champions, the same year they became the first Mayo club to win the Connacht club championship. By 1980 they had added their second county title and three more followed in that decade. Champions in 1992 and 1996, and already ensconsed in this year's final, they won their second Connacht club title last year, but were defeated by Crossmaglen Rangers in the All-Ireland club final.

Founded: 1957. Number of senior titles: 7. Current players on senior panel: Kevin O'Neill and Declan Sweeney. Captains of All-Ireland winning teams: None. Parish base: The Backs - Knockmore. Population of catchment area: 2,000. Club members: 127.

Captain's view: Cork 1989

Dinny Allen - (CORK v Mayo)

Allen was captaining a Cork team that had lost the previous two All-Irelands against Meath. Hot favourites to win, Cork obliged and the following year, after Allen's retirement, added a further title. Some of Allen's comments at the presentation of the Cup about the "crow's nest" (a reference to the media) proved controversial.

"At my age, I was 37, I was hoping to pull out of it as much as I could. I knew it was my going to be my last match and we had lost the previous two finals so fellas were going around saying, `you're going to have to win'. Everyone was demanding that we would win.

"At the end of the end of the day, the people whose opinion you value most are the players and selectors so we weren't too tied up about this and played well. The game wasn't as cynical at that stage, so it was possible to play football.

"I felt it was a great match. We scored 17 points and only one from a free. There was criticism afterwards that it wasn't hard enough - it was hard enough if you were playing in it - but it was good to watch and I felt people enjoyed it.

"We stayed in Dublin the night before and went for a walk. When we came back, there were so many people outside the hotel that we thought there'd been a bomb scare. But it was just because the inside of the hotel was so crowded. It was ludicrous.

"Then you're trying to sleep as long as you can, but instead you wake at seven or eight, hoping that it's 11 o'clock. Eight hours to go to the match and time can drag. That's when Mass comes into play. It's an excuse to get downstairs with the players. An hour for Mass and an hour for breakfast and it's nearly time for the team meeting and once midday comes, you have tea and sandwiches and get onto the bus. Most players want to watch a bit of the minor match and get a bit of fresh air. It allows you get the feel of the weather.

"I used feel after all matches fierce anti-climactic. You're on a high for a minute or two before everything falls back into proportion and after that the euphoria slips back. A minute before, you're almost crying wondering if you're going to win. Then the whistle goes and you wonder what's it all about.

"Looking back, I don't think I should have said what I did. A bit like Ger Loughnane the other night, I feel I was out of order. It just came out, it wasn't something I'd planned. Basically we had been on the receiving end of comments that we had no bottle, that Meath had beaten us, that we had struggled for a while against Dublin and played poorly against Kerry. I wasn't referring to anyone in particular. People said it was Mick O'Dwyer or this reporter or that reporter. It could have been anyone, I didn't know myself."

Take Two: All-Ireland semi-final 1903

Kerry: 27, Mayo: 04

Markets Field Limerick, May 7th 1905.

This was the first meeting between the counties at All-Ireland level and as was commonplace at the time, the 1903 championship was wildly behind schedule and wasn't completed for nearly two years. Mayo gave a good account of themselves and trailed by only a point at the interval, 0-3 to 1-1, their defence attracting the admiration of at least one observer. "The following encounter gave place to play of a very fast and even character in which Connacht's back division did excellent execution".

In the second half, however, Mayo disintegrated and managed only one more point while Kerry added another 1-6. The match has great historical significance because the Kerry team went on to participate in a legendary three-match All-Ireland 'Home' final against Kildare.

Acknowledged as the series of matches that set the GAA on its way to becoming a promoter of mass-spectator sports, this final ended with Kerry winning narrowly before going on to claim the title, in the final proper, for the first time. Since that year, Kerry have never gone as long as at present waiting for an All-Ireland.

The Numbers Game: The story so far

First Point: John Quane (Limerick) v Tipp - 2.32, 11th May, Gaelic Grounds. First Goal: Mick Mahon (Wexford) v Westmeath - 2.44, 11th May, New Ross. Biggest Margin: Offaly (19 points) v Longford - 11th May, Tullamore. Quickest Goal: Noel Donnelly (Tyrone) v Derry - 2nd minute, 29 June, Clones. Latest Goal: Martin Daly (Clare) v Cork - 72nd minute, 22nd June, Ennis. Highest Score: Declan Darcy (Leitrim) v London - 2-11, 1st June, Ruislip.

Top Scorers

David Reynolds (Offaly) - 0-27 (average 5.4) Declan Darcy (Leitrim) - 2-20 (average 13) Trevor Giles (Meath) - 2-20 (average 5.2) Joe Brolly (Derry) - 3-16 (average 6.25) Maurice Sheridan (Mayo) - 0-24 (average 6) Ronan Carolan (Cavan) - 1-18 (average 5.25) Vinny Claffey (Offaly) - 2-15 (average 3)

Top Average: Declan Darcy (Leitrim) - 0-13

Top Team: Offaly - 11-90 (average 18.42)

Meanest Team: Mayo conceded - 1-43 (average 10.75)