Manager Tom Dempsey feels Wexford have come a long way since their heavy defeat by Kilkenny in the Leinster hurling final on July 9th. But in any event, he argues that the 2-19 to 0-12 scoreline did not offer a fair reflection of Wexford's performance on the day.

"We dominated possession for about 35 minutes but couldn't put it on the scoreboard," he says. "Critics then said we wouldn't score goals but we scored four against Limerick and three against Tipperary but I'd be a bit concerned that we're not knocking over enough of points."

One of most noticeable aspects of Sunday's match was the growing influence on proceedings of the 1996 team that won the county's only All-Ireland in the past 30 years. Damien Fitzhenry and Larry O'Gorman have been exceptional in the games against Limerick and Tipperary, while Adrian Fenlon is enjoying his best form for several years.

Last weekend also saw the return of '96 captain Martin Storey from retirement. Dempsey says the comeback - which had been denied all last week - suggested itself after the quarter-final win over Limerick. "I've always felt it a bit simplistic to say that a player is good for 70 minutes in 2000 and for not even 15 minutes in 2001. I felt the day after the Limerick game we needed older heads and it was time to do something about it."

Storey's arrival lifted the team even if he struggled to catch the pace of inter-county action, which he hadn't experienced for 14 months. Another influence from five years ago is former manager Liam Griffin who has returned in a consultant coaching capacity. His input was agreed last year when he sat on the sub-committee that recommended Dempsey's appointment.

"He's a very big back-up for me," says Dempsey, "and available at all times. He takes the team for training sessions and is a confidant. When I was appointed I asked him to help me if I needed. I had no problem doing that."

Back involved in the sort of capacity from which he resigned for personal reasons, Griffin is as forceful as ever in his opinions and observations on the game and the Wexford team. He agreed with the recall of Storey. "The balance wasn't right. It's an important mixture to get right and we had a whole clatter of youngsters. When you're sending on Martin Storey it's different to sending on some 19-year old substitute. They're going to watch Martin and worry a bit about him."

Many of the younger players passed through Griffin's hands during his time coaching at under-age level. One of them, David "Doc" O'Connor had an outstanding match at the weekend.

"I've watched him for a long time. I followed his Fitzgibbon campaign with UCD. He's capable of making mistakes but he corrects them. He's a very intelligent young man. That interception he made was as important as any of Fitz's saves," says Griffin.

Another, Darren Stamp, he describes as "one of the best minors I ever had. His best position is wing back but it was important to put him on the team wherever he could be slotted in, even in the forwards,"

There are five members of the current under-21 team on the senior starting 15. The under-21's Leinster final win over Kilkenny gave a huge lift to the county just days after the senior provincial final. Griffin says the sequence of events was important.

"There was great pressure to introduce the younger fellas for the Kilkenny match," he says, "to put them out to be slaughtered. I said I'd fight that one in the trenches. You'd have destroyed them and then we'd have lost the under-21 and lost to Limerick. Now look at the defence. On Sunday we wound up with only one older fella, Liam Dunne."

As the defence tightened its grip on Tipperary's fading attack, the influence of full back and county captain Darragh Ryan grew.

"Darragh is a very bright young man, an engineer," Griffin explains. "He's playing a system but unlike unintelligent players he can improvise if things aren't working. Before playing Limerick we decided the only way to play Brian Begley was from in front. Darragh didn't feel comfortable with that, hung back and got caught for three balls. He realised he's have to play him from the front and he hurled him out of it from them on."

There have been changes in emphasis since the Leinster final. New, refurbished Wexford Park with its gymnasium had been the centre for training but during the Leinster under-21 final Griffin had a niggling doubt confirmed.

"At the moment it's dead sand under green grass and it won't settle for at least another year. The pitch is too slow. You could see it in the under-21 final in the flight of the ball and quality of the hurling. I thought: 'we should be getting out of here'. Tony took the team to better pitches out the county, Marshalstown, Barntown, St Martin in Piercestown, speeded up the hurling.

"Pace is so important at inter-county. I was a fast hurler, used to losing my marker playing club hurling. When I stepped up to inter-county I couldn't believe it. There were fellas on top of me all the time."

Poised on the verge of another crack at an All-Ireland final few would have seen them reach, Wexford have already had a good year according to Griffin. "We've won the Leinster under-21, intermediate, beat Limerick in a quarter-final and now have been competitive with Tipperary. Wexford are a force again whatever happens from now in."