Few players can boast a 13-year gap between appearances in Croke Park, and if Liam Donoghue had his way it wouldn't be nearly as long. Yet that's the position the Galway goalkeeper and captain finds himself in ahead of Sunday's All-Ireland hurling quarter-final against Tipperary.

In fact few players would have the patience to survive such a barren period. Now aged 30, Donoghue's reward for sticking with it is to lead out Galway in arguably their most important hurling match for several years. If they get past Tipperary the consensus is they'll be hard to stop. Lose and they'll seem further away than ever from the All-Ireland title last won in 1988.

Just why Donoghue has endured such a lengthy exile from the GAA's main stage is a long story, but he's clearly not one to look back in anger. He was goalkeeper on the Galway team that collected the All-Ireland minor title in Croke Park in 1992, beating Waterford, and since then has been more or less the first or second in reserve. All the while he watched his twin brother Michael establish himself on the team. Managers came and went, from Cyril Farrell to Mattie Murphy to Noel Lane, but there was always another goalkeeper ahead of him, from Richie Burke to Pat Costello to Michael Crimmins.

Then two things turned the spotlight onto him. Conor Hayes was appointed manager and was more eager to try something new, and in 2002 Donoghue reached the All-Ireland club final with Clarinbridge, producing some fine goalkeeping along the way. While they lost that final to Birr in a match played in Thurles, Donoghue had been discovered - for the second time.

"Yeah, I'd been knocking on the door for a good while," says Donoghue without even a hint of regret. "It's only really since Conor Hayes came in that I got the nod. Why he made me captain as well this year I've no idea, that's just the way it's done down in Galway. Conor asked me and I was glad to do it."

Having got the number one jersey in 2003, Donoghue found himself in a championship season that lasted just two matches. Galway beat Clare by point, but then fell to Tipperary by a similar margin. That was enough to give him a taste of one of the greatest rivalries in hurling. "I know Tipperary have been big rivals for us over the years, and have definitely had the edge for the last few years. So we know it's going to be a very tough match, and that Tipp will be starting as favourites. Hopefully it will go a little better than the last time.

"But beating Limerick in the last round of the qualifiers was the ideal send off. We were delighted with that result, but were glad to get the three-week break then, because we know that there is still a lot of room for improvement.

"With all due to respect to Laois and Antrim we knew there would be a huge step up in class in the Limerick game, and that's the way it proved. So we're fairly happy with the way things have gone, and are keeping our fingers crossed that a few of the injury problems we have will clear up for Sunday."

Like most teams unaccustomed to the new Croke Park surface, Galway came up for a runabout at the weekend. Donoghue liked what he saw. "It was great to get that run out. The pitch is playing very fast these days so it was important to get a feel for it.

"I do think the new system has worked out well, except we were a little unlucky with the way the draw worked out. We could have done with maybe two tough games in the qualifying group rather than just the one. If we'd had say Offaly and Clare I think it would have been an ideal scenario, but having said that we're not complaining. We still got the games we wanted. Our biggest argument in the past was that we were going in against the best teams below par. It's up to us now to go out to perform. We can't have any excuses."