When Tipperary and Galway clash in three weeks time it will only be the fifth time the counties have clashed in All-Ireland finals. Two of the three previous meetings were in the ancient past - Tipperary winning the first meeting back in 1887 by the grand score of 1-1 to 0-0, the 1925 meeting by 5-6 to 1-5 and the 1958 clash by 4-9 to 2-5- but the third meeting was central to a modern rivalry which was sharp (and sometimes vicious) in the late eighties and early 1990s.

Having won their first Munster final since 1971 in 1987, Babs Keating's team were beaten in the semi-final that year by a Galway side on their way to back-to-back All-Irelands.

Tipperary were the victims in the 1988 final - 1-15 to 0-14 - before the fireworks really began to fly in the semi-final of 1989 when the build-up was blighted by the Tony Keady affair and Galway had two men sent off.

Tipp again had the upper hand in the '91 semi-final before a Galway win over Tipperary also marked the end of the Keating era when the beat his in the 1993 semi-final.