AFTER a Sunday afternoon which will be long remembered for glorious hurling, thoughts immediately switch to another lip-smacking feast when the All-Ireland semi-finals are played at Croke Park on, August 4th. After the delights provided by three provincial finals all that now remains is for Galway to nudge New York aside on Saturday next at Athenry to complete a hugely attractive pairings featuring themselves, Wexford, Limerick and Antrim.

Later this week the management committee of the GAA is almost certain to decide that this bill is deserving of being all-ticket with an attendance in the region of 60,000 expected.

With teams like Cork, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Offaly and the reigning champions Clare out of the running, the expectations in the four remaining counties will be at fever pitch.

Nineteen bitter and frustrating years have divided Wexford from such a day and their supporters were in all sorts of transports of delight at the end of the game against Offaly. A beaming Tony Doran once more strode across the pitch he has graced so often being hugged by men, women and children alike.

Yesterday Phelim Murphy, the secretary of the Galway hurling board, recalled that Galway and Wexford last met in the championship in 1976 at Pairc Ui Chaoimh in a controversial tie which went to a replay. Apart from disputes about a venue for the match and replay there was also the question of a crucial goal by Wexford's John Quigley in the replay which most observers believed should have been disallowed.

Limerick's victory in the Munster championship has restored faith in the Shannon-side public. The standard of hurling produced so far, and the excitement generated by the closeness of the matches against Clare and Tipperary (twice), has sharpened the appetite for more.

Limerick will be relieved that Gary Kirby came through a difficult situation unscathed. Although he managed only a point from a free it is felt that he can now put the injury which he suffered in the drawn game out of his mind. His admirers, who are legion, will be looking to him for a huge contribution in the semi-final against Antrim.

While many will not quibble with the RTE nomination of Larry Murphy as Man of the Match for Wexford, this observer would have gone unequivocally for Damien Fitzhenry. Three of his saves were nothing short of breathtaking and his performance under the dropping ball was bordering on the heroic.

For the moment however, the focus will switch to football this weekend with provincial finals in Munster and Connacht. In the Cork-Kerry clash in Pairc Ui Chaoimh the interesting feature will be the midfield pairings. Cork's Danny Culloty is a doubtful starter, having damaged ligaments in his shoulder while playing for his club, Newmarket, in a junior competition.

He would he a big loss for Cork already deprived of the services of John O'Driscoll, who suffered an injury to his achilles tendon in the match against Clare. Pat Hegarty is also ruled out and the selectors may opt to move Niall Cahalane to midfield to partner Liam Honohan if Culloty is unavailable.

Kerry are expected to go for a midfield pairing of Dara O Se and Seamus Moynihan while Morgan Nix is almost certainly out of the defence. Liam Flaherty, who came into the match as a substitute against Waterford, is expected to retain his place.

Galway, who meet Mayo in the Connacht final in Castlebar are well aware that their last three. championship matches at the venue ended with them losing.

There is considerable interest in both counties about the possibility of Val Daly making a return to the Galway side. Daly, a former All, Star, has been playing well in training after recovering from a leg injury and there is speculation that he has the potential to upset a defence where he is thought to have the Indian sign on the Mayo fullback, Kevin Cahill.

The introduction of Daly would also give Galway the option of moving Jarlath Fallon to a more fruitful role further out the field possibly as a third midfielder. Others hoping to get the nod from the selectors when the team is picked tonight are Damien Mitchell, Kevin Walsh and Kevin Fallon.

Mayo appear to be without injury problems and will probably opt for the team which beat Roscommon in the semi-final. The selectors may consider the claims of experienced players like P J Loftus, Tom Reilly, Dermot Flanagan and Anthony McGarry when they sit down to pick their team tonight.

Meanwhile, the Dublin manager, Mickey Whelan has a worrying time ahead as he looks at his list of injured players for the Leinster final against Meath on Sunday week. The latest casualty is Joe McNally, who appeared to pull a hamstring while playing for St Anne's against St Sylvester's in the final of the Dublin senior league at Bohernabreena.

Others spending more time on the treatment table than on the training pitch are Jason Sherlock, Charlie Redmond, Dermot Deasy and Declan Barnes.