Joe Errity's selection at centre back has one positive augury for Offaly: the only time the county has beaten Cork in a major championship match was when Errity lined out for the minors in the 1987 All-Ireland final.

This was part of a remarkable sequence of success for Offaly at the under-18 grade which the county dominated in the late 1980s, winning three All-Irelands in four years.

Senator Pat Moylan was manager of the 1989 team and a selector in 1986 and 1987. "I wouldn't be afraid of Joe Errity," he says. "He's done a lot of hurling there for the club. When he played there for the minors, I thought he read the game well, read the opposition well.

"He's very intelligent, and although he mightn't ever have been the fastest, he made up for mobility by staying ahead. He's very strong over a ball, has a good hand and is a good striker, can pick forwards out.

"When I was involved with the minors, he always gave his best, so I was really surprised to hear Babs Keating (Offaly manager in 1998) saying on the radio that he couldn't get him to train. I always remember him as one of those fellas who are first on the field."

Although two senior All-Irelands followed in the 1990s, Moylan feels slightly disappointed with the haul. "I remember saying at the end of the Eighties, there's a great decade in front of us. To be honest I thought we would have won more."

Yet there had been a time when many felt the graduates of all that underage success could end up with nothing. Despite such a damburst of titles in the minor grade, nothing followed at under-21 and a number of notable talents fell by the wayside during the transition to senior.

"I think people expected at least two under-21s out of the three minors," according to Moylan. "We made mistakes against Waterford (in the drawn 1992 final) and had a great chance against Tipperary in Portlaoise in 1989. We were unlucky to lose that by a few points."

This failure, he believes, can be ascribed to the county's strapped hurling resources which manifested themselves in two ways. Firstly, a number of successful minors opted for football after 1989, a year when Offaly reached both All-Ireland minor finals - losing the football. Secondly, there isn't a sufficient number of players up to the age or in their last year.

"Sean Grennan and Finbar Cullen were both on that minor team (1989), but they concentrated on football (both were on the teams which recently won the Leinster title and the National League). an Grennan had. He's a big, strong fella who'd do a job for you, leave a lot of space for others to play. "You also need fellas in their last year. In '89 on the under-21s, I think we had four minors playing. Physically that's not really strong enough. It's the same at minor, a team should have around 12 or 13 in their last year."

Moylan - who went on to be a senior selector with Eamonn Cregan before his political career ruled out the involvement - ascribes the underage success of the 1980s to two factors.

"Eighty per cent of it had to be the talent we had from Birr Community College and the then Vocational School in Banagher. Brother Vincent in Birr and Pat McNamara in Banagher gave up 15 years of their lives to cultivate that.

"Then Pad Joe Whelehan got the maximum out of the lads. We had always had some good hurlers and won nothing at underage level, but used be happy with a good showing. Pad Joe changed that attitude. The county board should have given him more time with the seniors."

He is hopeful for the future after the county's first Leinster minor since his own days. "I do think the county board should put more into coaching, but from the ages of 12 to 16 I think there are some very promising players who should deliver if they stay in the game and avoid serious injury."

Tickets for Sunday's All-Ireland hurling semi-final between Cork and Offaly will be on sale at Croke Park today and tomorrow from 11.0 to 7.0 p.m. They are available while stocks last at £20 for stand and £10 for terrace.

Kilkenny manager Brian Cody has confirmed that Peter Barry (thumb), John Power (hand) and Henry Shefflin (shoulder), who were all injured in the Leinster final against Offaly, trained this week and would come into contention for the semi-final against Galway.