It triggers a question . . . has anyone else had to play more championship games to make a semi-final?

And the answer is only one man has . . . Wexford's George O'Connor. As 'Semi-Heroes' table shows, while Ollie has had to wait until his 31st appearance and 11th season to play in a semi-final, the Wexford man had to wait for his 34th match and 17th season to reach such a milestone.

Another man has played even more games than Ollie and has yet to play in a semi-final . . . and, because of the county of his birth . . . probably never will. As the 'Semi-Failures' table shows, Laois's ace freetaker James Young has now played 32 games.

Johnny Callinan leads the strong Clare contingent in this category, having made 29 appearances over a 16-year career that featured two league medals and two All Stars but no Munster title or All Ireland semifinal.

Or what about Offaly's Jack Tooher made his debut in 1898 and was still hurling 22 years later! Go down through the list though and you'll see some big names . . .

Loughnane, Stack, Jimmy Smyth, Paddy Molloy . . . a testament to their own perseverance and an indictment of the perverse, old, strictly knockout format.

Dan: repeating history and making history He's breaking all kinds of records.

Last week, by virtue of his doublestrike against Cork, Dan Shanahan (right) brought his current goalscoring streak to 19 goals in 19 games, becoming the first player since Joe McKenna 21 years ago to average at least a goal a game over a spell of more than 12 championship games.

And today, should he register a single point, let alone goal, he'll become the second leading championship scorer in Waterford history.

In first place is his unsurpassable teammate, Paul Flynn, on 248 points (24-176). Tied for second then are Dan and another Deise legend, Philly Grimes, on 105.

Philly and Dan share something else in common.

Like Dan, Philly enjoyed a scoring rush towards the end of his career (not that Dan's retiring! ).

In his first 25 championship games, Philly scored a hugely respectable 339, despite playing most of his hurling in midfield and in the half-back line.

But for the last 10 games of his career, he was released into the attack where he went ballistic, scoring 8-33, an average of 5.70 points per game.

And like Dan, it all started against Clare in Thurles, where he ran up 1-6 in lowering the Banner in 1962, wearing . . . just like Dan 42 years later . . . the number 10 jersey.

Interestingly, another versatile Mount Sion man features in the top five Deise scoring charts. Ken McGrath, of course, was a phenomenal half forward before being redeployed in defence in the wake of Fergal Hartley's 'retirement'.

That move wasn't a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul though. It was a case of unleashing Dan.

Waterford and Cork:

the final word Last Sunday they again abided by virtually every rule in their incredible rivalry.

Again the side ahead at halftime lost, as has been the case in all but one of their nine championship games since 2002. Whoever scored the last goal won, as has been the case in all nine games.

And once again the side who wasn't out-goaled won; by failing to beat Clinton Hennessy last Sunday, Cork became the first team in those nine matches to fail to find the net.

All trends identified over two years ago in When Sunday Comes, the column ahead of the game.

So, what trends are there in Limerick-Waterford games?

Well, the counties have clashed 33 times in the Munster championship, with Limerick ahead 19-12 with two draws. And in each of those 33 meetings the winning side has always scored at least one goal. And in their last 15 championship clashes . . . all the way back to 1965 . . . the side which has scored the most goals has won.

So far this summer Limerick have yet to out-goal a team while Waterford have yet to be out-goaled. Advantage Deise so.

Betcha didn't know this now Today Limerick and Waterford become the eighth all-Munster pairing to play a championship match in Croke Park. Go through it . . . Tipp and Clare in the famous '97 All Ireland, Clare and Limerick a fortnight ago, Waterford and Cork yet again last weekf.

That means, if you leave aside Kerry, only two other Munster pairings have yet to clash at headquarters in championship. What pairings are those?

Player County No. of games First semi-final appearance George O'Connor Wexford 34th of 35 1980-1996 v Galway Ollie Moran Limerick 31st (still playing) 1997-2007 v Waterford Billy Byrne Wexford 29th of 34 1984-1996 v Galway Tom Dempsey Wexford 26th of 34 1985-1996 v Galway Damien Martin Offaly 25th of 37 1967-1980 v Galway Martin Storey Wexford 24th of 34 1986-1996 v Galway Padraig Horan Offaly 22nd of 42 1970-1980 v Galway

SEMI-HEROESMOST GAMES PLAYED BEFORE PLAYING IN AN ALL-IRELAND HURLING SEMI-FINAL HITMENWATERFORD'S TOP TEN CHAMPIONSHIP MARKSMEN Pos Total Player Score Games Average 1248 Paul Flynn 24-176 40 6.93 2 105 Philly Grimes 11-72 35 3.00 Dan Shanahan 19-48 36 2.91 4 99 Frankie Walsh 9-72 31 3.19 5 91 Ken McGrath 1-87 39 2.33 6 88 John Mullane 9-61 25 3.52 8 74 Eoin Kelly 3-65 25 2.96 7 70 Seamus Power 15-25 32 2.18 9 64 Dave Bennett 0-64 30 2.13 10 55 Mick Flannelly 10-25 27 2.03