They had almost forgotten how good summer Sunday evenings can feel, writes Keith Duggan

"Players like that," Cyril Lyons is saying, " never lose their class. It is just a shame we had to wait three years to show that."

Lyons has waited patiently for this day and remains true to his reserve and modesty now that it has arrived. Elsewhere, they are talking for him.

"Cyril Lyons has taken some fierce and undeserved criticism since he came in," says Davy Fitzgerald.

"And he took on an awfully difficult job. Sure who in their right mind would want to follow on from Loughnane? Like, I'd have savage respect for Galway, us being so close. But this was a fantastic win for Clare. To come out of a tight one like that."

It took everything they still possess. Perhaps the catalyst was Niall Gilligan's strike from the blue. He scratches his head as if it was something he hasn't thought about in many years.

"Well, I just thought that things are going so bad, I might as well give it a go. I was thinking of going for goal if it was on the 21 yard line but it wasn't, it was 23 or 24 yards out. So I turned away but when I looked back the Galway defence was still in disarray. So I just hit it."

That score was their lifeblood. With it, Cyril Lyons knew his team had a chance.

"Because at half-time, we felt we had an awful lot of bad hurling out of our system and that we could only improve. We decided that we would just give it 30 minutes of hell. And we finally came to grips with Galway's attack and came into our own and perhaps could have won it by more.

"Though for a long time, a draw looked the more likely result. But these lads have loads of heart."

And how they showed it. Brian Lohan remembers seeing Jamesie O'Connor during the half-time break.

"He didn't say anything but you could see from him that he was very disappointed with the way things had gone for him. And he was just transformed when he came out."

His own hyped duel with Eugene Cloonan started with typical fireworks but ended quite tamely.

"Well, Eugene is a big strong lad and he is well able to take his score when the ball comes his way. He popped a couple over today as well. There was a time in the first half when we could have been blown out of it. The goal was huge, fair play to Niall Gilligan."

And now a rematch with Waterford. Inevitable shades of '98. "Well they won't be coming out to kill us or we won't be wanting to kill them," says Davy Fitzgerald.

"That was just something that happened four years ago that was blown out of all proportion. And we paid dearly for that. That's all I would say on that. But it will be a great game. I can't wait for it and may the best team win."

We find Noel Lane in conversation in one of the endless corridors that run under Croke Park. He is tired and offers no excuses.

"Well, we started well but the goal was a setback. The circumstances were a bit dubious but no sour grapes on that front. It is a setback for us. In terms of an All-Ireland, they say you have to lose one to win one and we were hopeful that we could get back to that stage. But we hit a few wides at a crucial stage in the second half and were under pressure from Clare when trying to deliver ball inside."

So another summer passes and Galway are no closer. What now for Noel Lane? "Well, that is something we will have to sit down and think about."