We hadn’tplayed as well as we could that day —looking back we didn’t really appreciate itbecause we were young The very first meeting of Limerick and Offaly took place on 3 September 1994 to decide the destination of the 1994 All-Ireland crown.

An early goal from Brendan Murphy handed Offaly the incentive after just five minutes when some dreadful Limerick defending allowed him go on an almost unchallenged 60-yard run that ended with him kicking the sliotar to the back of the net.

Limerick began to look nervous as they tried to muscle their way back into the game, but their shooting was becoming increasingly ragged and three consecutive wides seemed to affect their confidence.

Joe Bergin was the goal hero with a hat-trick for Offaly, two within the opening twenty minutes, which helped the Leinster team to a 2–11 to 0-6 half-time advantage.

Limerick's gallop was halted with twenty minutes remaining when Bergin flicked home a sideline cut from midfielder Rory Hanniffy.

Limerick, whose regular players refused to line out under manager Justin McCarthy, gained the early initiative with some fine points getting the underdogs off to a solid start.

Offaly looked for long stretches to be on course for the win, however, they were met with a late onslaught from Limerick who bagged 1-2 inside a five-minute spell to cut the deficit to two points with just eight minutes remaining.