One simple point from Colin Lynch, one giant step for Clare hurling. Sure, three years away from Croke Park is hardly a famine, but yesterday's victory over Galway had all the hallmarks of a great revival. Ian O'Riordanreports

Definitely the revival of the summer. Two months ago, Clare were well dusted by Tipperary in the opening game of the Munster championship and in any other year that would have been it. The new qualifiers gave them some hope, though few other hurling counties did likewise.

Then came the sort of fiery, intense afternoon that Clare hurlers have been born and bred for. Galway were regarded as the class act of the summer and destined to meet Waterford in the All-Ireland semi-finals. Now Clare are thinking about Waterford, and beyond.

All-Ireland quarter-finals have always been dangerous territory. Tipperary were almost reminded of that by Antrim in the opening game before progressing by a handy 10 points, but it was Clare's one-point win over Galway, 1-15 to 0-17, that had the crowd of 41,619 emptied of all nervous energy.

Nor have so many great careers ever been revived on the same day. Coming in here, Jamesie O'Connor was almost written off beyond return. Brian Lohan was forlorn. Sean McMahon and Davy Fitzgerald were living off the dying legend.

Yesterday time was regained, and it was like nothing had changed. O'Connor hit wild points from both sides; Lohan discarded his helmet and put his soul into every ball, and McMahon and Fitzgerald waved hurleys as flags of leadership. As the clock ran down only fate seemed capable of pulling the teams apart.

Tied, and both tested to the limit, there was less than a minute left to play when the ball fell to Colin Lynch. The Clare midfielder has hit some great points in his day but none more vital. And what an addition to the legend of Clare hurling.

So Cyril Lyons won't just be remembered as the man who took over from Ger Loughnane. He'll be remembered now as the man who got some more life out of this Clare team when the obituaries had been prepared and ready to go.

"Well, I knew we had a very experienced bunch of players," he said. "A lot of the hurling wasn't so good, but it was the heart and the courage that won the game for us. We got stronger and stronger as the game went on, and finally came to grips with the Galway forwards.

"And you know, these older guys never lose their class. The sad thing is that it's taken three years to get Croke Park to remind them what great hurlers they are.

"And I thought it was a tremendous performance of guts and determination"

Galway were in chillingly determined mood from the start, clearly carried over from last year's All-Ireland defeat. Kevin Broderick and Damien Hayes and Fergal Healy were cutting loose, and only a cheeky Niall Gilligan free that jettisoned into the net kept Clare in touch at half-time.

"Thankfully we got that crucial score in the first half," admitted Lyons. "But we all felt we could improve at half-time, whether or not it would be good enough to win. But we said we'd give 35 minutes of pure hell. And they did that.

"And it was a huge game for us. You know May 19th, when we lost in Munster, was a long time ago. Maybe it was a bit early for our lads to find real championship form. And we knew all along that the new qualifiers would be an enormous advantage to us.

"Once we beat Wexford I felt the game we wanted was either Cork or Galway. We wanted a stern test, to find out for ourselves. Now it's Waterford - the side the beat Tipperary, who previously beat Clare. So it's going to be another huge game for us."

It was a long, slow walk back to the Galway dressing-room for manager Noel Lane. But when he eventually emerged stone-faced and a little disillusioned, there would be no excuses. "We were going well in the first half," he said, "and of course I thought we should have been more up at half-time. Their goal came against the run of play. And it was a dubious free, I thought. But certainly no sour grapes.

"Still, we had a few chances midway through the second half that we drove wide. I thought too we needed to give our forwards more direct ball, and some more space. And that wasn't happening.

"But Clare put us under pressure to do that, and we were struggling for 50-50 balls with bigger, stronger men. That's where we failed at the end."

So Clare supporters can start the countdown to the All-Ireland semi-final with Waterford, set for August 11th. The following weekend Tipperary take on Kilkenny, though after yesterday's 1-25 to 2-12 win over Antrim, manager Nicky English wasn't exactly in the most confident mood. Then again, neither were Clare before yesterday.