All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1959

Infobox Hurling All-Ireland
year=1990


team=Waterford
titles=2nd
captain=Frankie Walsh
manager=
munster=Waterford
leinster=Kilkenny
ulster=
connacht=
poty=
matches=
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1959 was the 73rd edition of Ireland’s premier hurling knockout competition. The championship ran from May to September of that year, culminating with the All-Ireland final, held at Croke Park, Dublin on 6 September. The match was contested by Waterford and Kilkenny, with the game ending in a 1-17 to 5-5 draw. The replay took place four weeks later on 4 October with Waterford taking the title by 3-12 to 1-10. The game marks the last time that the All-Ireland hurling final ended in a draw.

Format

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was run on a provincial basis as usual. All games were played on a knockout basis whereby once a team lost they were eliminated from the championship. The format for the All-Ireland series of games ran as follows:
* There were no All-Ireland semi-finals.
* The winners of the Munster Championship advanced directly to the first All-Ireland final.
* The winners of the Leinster Championship advanced directly to the All-Ireland final.
* There were no representatives from Ulster in the All-Ireland series.
* Galway, a team who faced no competition in the Connacht Championship, participated in the Munster Championship for the first time.

All-Ireland final

Overview

The All-Ireland senior hurling final saw Waterford lining out in only their third ever championship decider. They last played in the All-Ireland final two years earlier in 1957 when they were defeated by Kilkenny. Waterford last won the title in 1948 when they defeated Dublin.

Match reports

Sunday 6 September was the date of the 1959 All-Ireland senior hurling final between Waterford and Kilkenny. The attendance of 73,707 was not disappointed and was treated to some splendid hurling by both teams in one of the great All-Ireland finals. An exciting first half of hurling saw Waterford take a five-point lead. Immediately after the restart Tom Cheasty scored a memorable point after he stormed past five Kilkenny defenders who, according to Radio Éireann commentator Michael O'Hehir, fell around him ‘like dying wasps.’ Waterford were masters at pure hurling, however, the downside of this was the fact they found it difficult to close out games and win easily. This was a factor on this occasion against Kilkenny. Two quick goals by Tommy O'Connell put Kilkenny ahead by two goals with just a minute left in the game. With the score at 5-5 to 0-17 Waterford needed a goal. A stroke of luck saw ‘the Decies’ awarded a sideline cut. Team captain Frankie Walsh stepped up to take it when he saw Séamus Power bursting out of midfield with his hand raised looking for the sliothar. Walsh fluffed the sideline cut and the sliothar only went a few yards. Fortunately, Larry Guinan was running forward and he collected the sliothar. He had only one thing in mid as he headed straight for the goalmouth. He fired in a shot that full-back Jim ‘Link’ Walsh deflected past his goalkeeper Ollie Walsh. The final whistle blew immediately and the score line read Waterford 1-17, Kilkenny 5-5.

Four weeks later on 4 October 77,285 returned to Croke Park to see the second installment of the All-Ireland final between Waterford and Kilkenny. The second game began terribly for Waterford, in spite of playing with a strong wind, and they trailed by 1-4 to 0-1 after only twelve minutes of play. Frankie Walsh also had a torrid time a she failed to raise the sliothar for a close-in free. All of a sudden, however, Waterford clicked into gear. Mick Flannelly, a player from the famous Mount Sion club, goaled to get Waterford’s game back on track. Tom Cunningham added a second with a brilliant overhead strike before Tom Cheasty also goaled. After a disastrous start Waterford led by 3-6 to 1-8 at the interval. The second-half saw Joe Harney and Austin Flynn excelling in defence, so much so that Kilkenny only scored two points from Eddie Keher over the course of the thirty minutes. Waterford, on the other hand, forged ahead with Walsh and Cheasty excelling. After 120 minutes of hurling played out in front of an aggregate attendance of 150,000 Waterford took their second All-Ireland title by 3-12 to 1-10.

Drawn game statistics

footballbox
date=1959-09-06
15:15 BST
team1=Kilkenny
score=5-5 – 1-17
team2=Waterford
report=
goals1=
goals2=
stadium=Croke Park, Dublin
attendance=73,707
referee=G. FitzGerald (Limerick)

valign="top"
valign="top" width="50%"

References

* Corry, Eoghan, "The GAA Book of Lists" (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
* Donegan, Des, "The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games" (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).
* Nolan, Pat, "Flashbacks: A Half Century of Cork Hurling" (The Collins Press, 2000).
* Sweeney, Éamonn, "Munster Hurling Legends" (The O'Brien Press, 2002).

ee also