13 September 1992, when over 21,000 enthralled patrons crammed into Nowlan Park. It ended all-square (Offaly 0-16, Waterford 4-4) after a riveting game replete with some brilliant scores and some outrageous wides. The Deise's goalie Ray Barry was their hero of the hour, while midfielder Johnny Brenner scored all of Waterford's four points. In the second half, the Deise scored four goals (three of them by big Sean Daly). The last of these had Offaly chasing the game, until Brian Whelahan raced forward for the equalizer just on full-time. The replay took place two weeks later and was another non-stop display of pure hurling. At its end, however, it was Waterford who were victorious by 0-12 to 2-3. Empty-handed once more, after their third U-21 Final in four years, Kevin Kinahan, Johnny Dooley and all of their teammates were inconsolable. County Championships of 1992 and 1993 Seir Kieran would likewise emerge empty-handed from the following two SHC seasons, and seemed to be sliding backwards at times. They began the 1992 championship in Jekyll & Hyde fashion, with a stunning 4-10 to 2-9 victory over Coolderry then a desolate 1-13 to 0-7 loss to Birr. In the third round against Kinnitty, Mick Mulrooney scored the decisive goal as Seir Kieran won by 1-9 to 0-11, although they had lived dangerously throughout this match. The next outing was on 9 August 1992, when the Clareen team beat Kilcormac/ Killoughey by 2-16 to 0-7 to guarantee a place in the play-offs. Neither could Coolderry really cope with Seir Kieran fully nine weeks later, when they duked it out for a Semi-final place. With Pat O'Connor out with a broken leg, Coolderry had few attacking options and went down by 0-13 to 1-7. On the minus side, the black and amber had 13 wides. St Rynagh's were the opposition in the SHC Semi-final, played at Birr on 24 October 1992, and never relinquished the lead after Aidan Fogarty took an opportunist goal (St Rynagh's 2-14, Seir Kieran 1-12). Seir Kieran also played six matches in the 1993 Senior Hurling Championship, but did not even make the Semi-finals this time. A nail-biting one-point win over Kilcormac/ Killoughey (1-13 to 1-12) was negated by a defeat to Birr by 2-13 to 2-9. Noel Bergin reacted quickest when James Coakley's shot came off the post, but Robbie Sheils's net lived a charmed life after that. Brian Whelahan