Just under thirty years ago, Tallaght club Thomas Davis were on the crest of a wave.
They had pushed on from securing a first Dublin title to win three in a row and were knocking on the door nationally.
Players like Dave Foran and Paul Curran were lynchpins of the Dublin team and the future looked bright.
But in the decades since the club have made more headlines off the field and when they take on Ballyboden St Enda's tomorrow it will be their first county final appearance since 1991.
The club was founded in 1888 but it took them almost 100 years to reach their first Dublin senior decider. It didn't go well. Davis scored just a single point as Scoil Uí Chonaill hit nine to take home their second and, to date, last title.
"I was in Croke Park that day as a 16-year-old watching it," says three-time All-Star wing-back Curran of the 1986 final. "It was a bit of a chastening experience for the club. But we worked our way back three years later."
Ballymun Kickhams were the opposition that day and hot favourites, just as Boden are this weekend.
"There are similarities to when won our first in 1989 to this year," remarks Curran. "Nobody was giving us a chance against Ballymun, who had seven, eight, nine inter-county players. We beat them by six points.
"That was our first senior title and we went on a fantastic run."
Parnells were defeated by a point in the final of 1990 and by two in 1991. In between winning three in a row, Thomas Davis racked up two Leinster crowns and went agonisingly close to All-Ireland glory.
"Every year of the three the All-Ireland champions beat us. The first year Baltinglass beat us in a Leinster final replay, they went on to win it. We were beaten an All-Ireland semi-final the second year by Lavey, and they won it easily.
"And then we got to the All-Ireland final the third year and Dr Crokes beat us by a point. Gooch was the mascot and I was marking his brother that day, Danny Cooper.
"It was a fantastic run and I don't think any of the players or supporters who were around at the time will ever forget those three years.
"We were very close to winning an All-Ireland. We missed a penalty, losing by a point, as we did against Lavey the previous year. Unfortunately it just didn’t happen to us."
So what happened after that? Davis won their first minor A championship in 1991 and first U21 in 1992 and as Curran says "there was huge confidence flowing through the club".
But while Curran was winning three All-Stars with Dublin, and the Footballer of the Year award in their All-Ireland glory year of '95, his club were fading as a force.
"We had a lot of young players coming through but we were beaten in '92 by Crokes in the semi-final in Dublin and we went missing. We never got back to even a semi-final before this year. A lot of tough days.
Curran even briefly transferred to Crokes out of frustration with what he saw as the mismanagement of the club.
"It was more political than anything else. I wasn't happy with what was going on in the club at the time.
"After being so successful we went missing and things needed to change. I was just making a statement really.
"I played with Crokes and the funny thing about it was after the League and Championship matches I ended up at Thomas Davis’ clubhouse for a drink. I never really left them."
In the latter half of the noughties, Thomas Davis were involved in a lengthy legal battle with South Dublin County Council in an attempt to ensure Tallaght Stadium, now home to Shamrock Rovers FC, would also be suitable for Gaelic games.
They lost and were liable for costs, which left the club in a perilous financial state until the sale of some pitches in 2017.
Coincidentally, at the same time as Thomas Davis take to the pitch at Parnell Park, Rovers will be aiming to end their own 32-year-wait for the FAI Cup against Dundalk at the Aviva.
Curran says that despite the cross-code competition for players he thinks "the two clubs have moved on".
"They had to go and win the B Championship to earn the right to be in it and that's not an easy thing to do"
Last year, Thomas Davis opposed the re-organisation of the Dublin championship into Senior 1 and 2, the latter effectively becoming the equivalent of the intermediate grade in other counties.
The Disputes Resolution Authority ruled against them but they backed up their case for inclusion in the top tier by immediately winning promotion and following it up with an unlikely run to this year's top-tier finale.
"It's been an amazing year," marvels Curran, who has been busy himself, managing Ballymun Kickhams to the Dublin title and All-Ireland final in 2012 and Clann na Gael to Roscommon glory in 2015.
"They dug in and fought hard for what they believed in.
"They wanted to be in the A championship and unfortunately lost the case. They had to go and win the B Championship to earn the right to be in it and that’s not an easy thing to do. There are a lot of good teams in the B Championship.
"They did that and here we are a year later and they are contesting the A final. Absolutely remarkable."
Compared to their final opponents, who feature the likes of Michael Darragh Macauley and former Dublin panellist Colm Basquel, Thomas Davis have no representation on the Dublin panel.
But it was the same situation against reigning champions Kilmacud Crokes in the semi-final and Davis upset the predictions.
Former inter-county panellist Paul Hudson moved to San Francisco two years ago so misses out but several of the squad have worn the Sky Blue jersey at U21 level.
Thomas Davis manager Paul Kelly tells @pauriclodge that "winning is a habit" after his team stunned champions Kilmacud Crokes to reach the Dublin SFC final, a year after winning Senior 2 #GAA pic.twitter.com/ezdCW7NDaU
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) October 26, 2019
"It's a little bit of a surprise because we thought maybe they were a year or two away from really challenging," says Curran.
"But they’ve been building a few years now. They have a lot of good young lads who have come through and there’s a huge buzz around the club.
"They have a lot of young lads who played in U21 finals with Dublin over the years so there is good experience there even though they are very young.
"It’s going to be a tough one but I would give them a very good chance. I think this team is very determined and they have been improving at a rate of knots.
"They have to go and play their game, if they do that and perform they have a great chance."
Whether or not Thomas Davis can defy expectations once again and claim the title tomorrow, Curran feels the optimism is back in Dublin 24.
"We're debt-free, there’s great facilities there, real work going on underage by a lot of the players I played with, like Fran Troy, Paul Nugent, Paul Godson, Gary Kilmartin.
"Those fellas that were on the three-in-a-row team have put their time back in over the last 10 years.
"Most of our teams at underage are playing at Division 1 and that hasn’t happened for a long long time. Our minors hammered Kilmacud a couple of weeks ago.
"There’s a wave of young lads coming through. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we’re looking at them competing in a final."
