Seán Moran talks to the experienced John Quane about Limerick'samazing run with a young side

Ten years on, John Quane is back in the big time. For a Limerick footballer this may be a relative state but this evening in Hyde Park, Roscommon, Quane will be 70 minutes away from the final round of the qualifiers, 140 minutes from an All-Ireland quarter-final.

On the way to this elevated stage, Limerick have defeated two established football counties, league finalists Cavan and last weekend, Offaly. This evening it's Mayo - a match for which Limerick will be outsiders but one within their new reach.

When he came onto the Limerick team Quane was young and the county's footballers were shaping up seriously. Assisted by getting the easier side of the inaugural open draw in Munster, they reached the final under the management of former Kerry All-Ireland winner (and current coach) John O'Keeffe. Only two points separated Limerick from Kerry that day and a year later, they once more nearly defeated their powerful neighbours.

But that was it. O'Keeffe himself always believed that he'd got the team a few years too late and Clare stole Limerick's thunder by becoming in 1992 the first county in 57 years to shatter the Cork-Kerry duopoly. Quane says that what followed were "bleak times for Limerick with no talent coming through and chopping and changing with management".

It was in the mid-1990s that the county board established a development scheme for football and gradually results were seen with the emergence of a couple of decent minor teams. But the major breakthrough came with a sense of timing in the millennium year of 2000 when Limerick won their first Munster under-21 football title and went on to lose the All-Ireland final to Tyrone.

Manager Liam Kearns graduated from the under-21s to the seniors, taking with him most of his talented underage cohort. The effects were visible in earnest during the National League Division Two campaign during which Limerick defeated Kerry in a major competitive match for the first time since the 19th century. The run foundered on other rocks and promotion was missed.

"Last year our aim was to win one championship match," says Quane, "but we lost to Kerry and then did badly against Westmeath in the qualifier. This time we said we would definitely win a couple of matches and aim for the quarter-finals. It snowballed from there and we beat Cavan and Offaly, two big football counties. We've been improving all the time."

During the successful run observers have commented on how well Limerick's centrefield has played. It's a classic old-fashioned line-up with an older, more experienced anchor - Quane - and a more mobile attacking partner, John Galvin, who is an international basketballer. It's not an exaggeration to say that no county has a combination, which would win more possession.

"John is playing great football," says Quane of Galvin. "He's a great fielder of the ball and will guarantee you possession - at least on your own kickout - and covers a great deal of ground. He gives me a licence to sit back."

Offaly were Limerick's victims last weekend. "They were poor enough," says Quane. "I was talking to a few of them afterwards and they were saying they had gone all out for the Leinster final. They weren't in good form."

Ciarán McManus, the Offaly midfielder and an International Rules team-mate of Quane in Australia in 1999, was impressed by his opponents. "They're definitely very good fielders and physically must be one of the strongest midfields you could meet.

"John Quane holds the middle and covers in front of the half backs while Galvin links with the half forwards. No team will get the better of them in the air but there are teams that would be more mobile."

Only 31 this year, Quane isn't making any long-term decisions. He is a farmer on the Limerick-Cork border near Mitchelstown and training entails a round trip of nearly 100 miles depending on whether training is in Rathkeale or the Gaelic Grounds.

"Training is four nights a week and it's a nice little spin to training. The young, talented players give you a new lease of life. I'm definitely up for another year and then we'll see how it goes."