Kilkenny don't fire Clare like Munster foes

History doesn't give Cyril Lyons' men much to go on for the All-Ireland final, as Seán Moran relates

Clare and Kilkenny have met three times in championship hurling. Of the big three in hurling's elite Kilkenny have had the most limited dealings with Clare. Whereas the county's rise in the late 1990s was defined by a succession of victories against Cork and Tipperary, Clare only had two encounters with Kilkenny - one on the way up and one on the way down.

Distanced from the hype of the Munster championship Kilkenny gave the impression of being faintly bemused by the force-field that seemed to surround Clare in their heyday. For their part, Clare have always seemed wary of Kilkenny in a way they can't turn to the sort of advantage they manage against Cork and Tipperary.

"We have always looked to Kilkenny - that's the standard to live up to," said Ger Loughnane after the 1999 All-Ireland semi-final.

The five matches chosen were significant events and provide an historical context to next Sunday's final, 70 years this Wednesday after the counties' only previous meeting in an All-Ireland final.

1932: September 4th: All-Ireland final, Croke Park: Kilkenny 3-3 Clare 2-3.

The epic All-Ireland of the previous year had gone to three matches before Cork defeated Kilkenny. That final was credited with turning hurling into a mass spectator sport and the arrival of the Irish Press expanded coverage of Gaelic games to levels commensurate with their public following. That year's final attracted a then record crowd of 34,372.

Clare qualified through one of the most extraordinary semi-finals in history. Early on, Galway over-ran Clare (sound familiar?) and with 25 minutes left led by 16 points. But during the chaos caused by large sections of the crowd leaving early, Clare scored two quick goals, triggered a landslide in their opponents' confidence and won by 9-4 to 4-14.

The final against Kilkenny, led by the brilliant Lory Meagher, who either scored or created all three of his side's goals, was, unsurprisingly, a tighter affair. It hinged on an incident two minutes from the end when Clare's goal-scoring legend Tull Considine was, according to himself, pushed in the back when shooting for goal from little more than 10 metres.

The chance was lost but Clare sportingly invited Kilkenny to their post-match banquet in Barry's Hotel. Kilkenny went from strength to strength but Clare wouldn't revisit the All-Ireland series until 1995.

1978: April 30th: National Hurling League final, Thurles. Clare 3-10 Kilkenny 1-10. Clare's famous team of the 1970s built a reputation on the National League and subsequent tantalising defeats by Cork in Munster finals. As they rose Kilkenny were in decline as a great team with three All-Irelands in four years began to fade.

As champions in the early part of 1976 Kilkenny still managed to thrash Clare in the NFL final replay. This was avenged the following year but by the spring of 1978 Clare had established themselves as formidable championship candidates.

This final was amongst their most highly regarded credentials. Coach Justin McCarthy, the current Waterford manager, quoted Jim O'Sullivan's report for the Cork Examiner in his autobiography.

"Last year victory was gained principally through the determination of the team as a whole allied to a great start and superb second-half defensive covering. This time it came about largely as a result of a mature, confident and skilful performance from a side that on the day did not have a single weak link. It was in essence the kind of display one would have expected from champions." Sadly for Clare that summer's championship yielded no more than the most agonising close call of all, a 0-13 to 0-11 defeat by Cork in the Munster final.

1995: May 7th: National Hurling League final, Thurles. Kilkenny 2-12 Clare 0-9.

This was the first time Ger Loughnane really drew attention to himself as Clare manager. He had taken over a side that had lost the previous two Munster finals by big margins but was confident beforehand that whatever happened, Clare wouldn't lose heavily. They did, even though Brian Lohan held DJ Carey scoreless from play.

In the dressingroom afterwards Loughnane informed the bemused media pack that Clare would win the coming Munster championship. He reasoned that his forwards, completely shackled by their opponents, wouldn't meet a defence a good as Kilkenny's in Munster.

For Kilkenny the win signalled a comeback from the previous year's disappointing failure to win a third successive All-Ireland. Not for the only time the priorities established by the League were to be drastically revised in the months that followed.

Kilkenny fought out an awesome Leinster final with All-Ireland champions Offaly before losing by a disproportionately large margin. Clare, fine-tuned and tweaked by Loughnane, did indeed win Munster and added the All-Ireland for good measure.

1997: August 10th: All-Ireland semi-final, Croke Park: Clare 1-17 Kilkenny 1-13. Kilkenny were in transition between the All-Ireland winning side of the early 1990s and the current side. They were hit in advance by the withdrawal of Michael Phelan and Liam Simpson and were well beaten.

But the final quarter showed both teams at their best. Apparently gone, Kilkenny trailed by seven points but a glorious solo goal by DJ Carey cut the margin. Carey had hit 2-8 in the quarter-final as Kilkenny overhauled a nine-point lead from Galway.

From now on every time he got the ball a current of apprehension surged through Clare supporters. But their team proved its mettle. Loughnane later said he and his selectors had been greatly relieved when Carey was moved onto Frank Lohan, who was having one of his best matches for the county. Lohan and the defence rose to the occasion.

This was the first year of the new, so-called back door system and Kilkenny became the first side to lose twice in the one championship. Clare went on to become the first team to defeat the same opposition twice when beating Munster finalists Tipperary in the All-Ireland final. This was Clare at their peak.

1999: August 15th: All-Ireland semi-final, Croke Park: Kilkenny 2-14 Clare 1-13. Clare's last hurrah. Or most recent hurrah until this season. Brian Cody had taken over Kilkenny after the All-Ireland defeat of the previous year and reshaped the side into a formidable force, which swept through Leinster, scoring 11-35 in the process.

Clare had gone down to only their second defeat in Munster in five years, losing narrowly to Jimmy Barry-Murphy's young Cork side. There was a sense that the team was in decline but it took a powerful display from Kilkenny to prove it.

Clare had hauled themselves back into contention after a goal from Stephen McNamara at the start of the final quarter but three minutes later, Carey effectively closed the book with a fine goal.

Kilkenny's trauma wasn't over, however, and the team was surprised by Cork in the final. But the team did win the All-Ireland a year later, whereas the Banner would not win another championship match until five weeks ago.