When Offaly got off the canvas to hit back at the Cats

This generation of Limerick hurlers have proven time and time again that they have little need for extra motivation going into big games.

But if they did require a spur going into Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final, they could simply look across towards the opposite dressing room in the bowels of Croke Park and remember what happened the last time they faced Cork.

The Rebels came out on top in a pulsating 3-28 to 3-26 victory in the Munster round-robin clash at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh in May and in the aftermath Limerick manager John Kiely admitted the outcome was "bitterly disappointing" for his side.

However, they bounced back to claim provincial honours for a sixth time in succession and will go in as heavy favourites against Cork to right an increasingly rare wrong with a spot in an All-Ireland final at stake.

The challenge of going up against a team that you've already lost to earlier in the championship and finding a way to gain revenge second time around brings back a few memories for Offaly legend Michael Duignan.

Back in the topsy-turvy 1998 campaign, he and his team-mates came up against Kilkenny in two finals in the space of 70 days.

The first of those - the Leinster decider - went the way of the Cats 26 years ago this week by a 3-10 to 1-11 scoreline, in what was the counties' first championship meeting in three years.

Previous to that, Offaly had won the 1994 Leinster semi-final and the 1995 final in a rivalry that ebbed and flowed in a way that it most certainly hasn't since.

"We had a poor day in the Leinster final and Kilkenny beat us fairly comfortably," Duignan recalls of 1998.

"DJ Carey got two late goals from 21-yard frees. They (Kilkenny) weren't actually great either. It wasn't a very good game to be honest