All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1961

Infobox Hurling All-Ireland
year=1961


team=Tipperary
titles=18th
captain=Matt Hassett
manager=
munster=Tipperary
leinster=Dublin
ulster=
connacht=
poty=Liam Devaney
matches=
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1961 was the 75th 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 3 September. The match was contested by Tipperary and Dublin, with Tipperary taking the title by 0-16 to 1-12. The prize for the winning team was the Liam McCarthy Cup.

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 All-Ireland final.
* The winners of the Leinster Championship advanced directly to the All-Ireland final.
* The Ulster Championship remained suspended due to a lack of competition.
* Galway, a team who faced no competition in the Connacht Championship, played in the Munster Championship for the third consecutive year.

All-Ireland ginal

Overview

Sunday 3 September was the date of the 1961 All-Ireland senior hurling final between Tipperary and Dublin. It was Tipperary’s second consecutive appearance in the championship decider, however, they lost out to Wexford in 1960. Dublin last appeared in the All-Ireland final in 1938 when they defeated Waterford to take the title. Tipperary last faced Dublin in the championship in the All-Ireland final of 1930. Tipperary were the victors on that occasion. Dublin last defeated Tipp in the championship in the All-Ireland final of 1917.

Tipperary were the favourites going into the game as an unfancied Dublin team overcame Wexford to book their place in the All-Ireland final. For the first time ever the Dublin team no longer depended on exiles from strong hurling counties. Paddy Croke, ironically a native of Tipperary, was the only non-Dublin native on the team that was powered by players from the St. Vincents and Crumlin clubs.

Match report

With the pre-match festivities completed the game began at 3:15pm. Tipperary lived up to their favourites tag as ‘the Dubs’ seemed to be overawed by the big occasion in Croke Park. Tipp cruised to a 0-10 to 0-6 lead and looked set to cruise to an easy victory. Immediately after the restart the game turned in Dublin’s favour when Billy Jackson sent in an early goal. The underdogs eventually took the lead, however, it wa sthen that they suffered the cruelest blow. Lar Foley, one of Dublin’s start players became involved in an incident with Tipperary’s Tom Ryan and both players were dismissed from the field. Shortly afterwards Tipp looked to be in real trouble when Tony Wall had to retire through injury. This led to Liam Devaney being moved from centre half-forward to centre half-back as Tipp began the fight back. The final quarter of the game saw Devaney give a master class of hurling and single-handedly win the game for his team. Dublin still had a 1-11 to 0-12 lead as the game entered the final quarter. Billy Jackson, the goal-scoring hero of the first-half, went searching for a second; however, his shot was saved by Donie O'Brien and deflected over the crossbar for a point. ‘The Dubs’ now led by two points, however, Tipp showed their class in finished. Jimmy Doyle tapped over three unanswered points before Donie Nealon sent over another point from play to go two ahead. A late point by the outstanding Achill Boothman left Tipperary just one point ahead, but they held out for a 0-16 to 1-12 win and the All-Ireland title.

Tipp’s Jimmy Doyle was undoubtedly the hero of the hour. He had broken his ankle in the Munster final and played on. He hadn’t rested the ankle between then and the All-Ireland final and played the game against doctor’s orders. He received a painkilling injection before the game, another one at half-time and played the entire game. His contribution, even when injured, was immeasurable as he slotted over nine of his teams points.

tatistics

footballbox
date=1961-09-03
15:15 BST
team1=Tipperary
score=0-16 – 1-12
team2=Dublin
report=
goals1=
goals2=
stadium=Croke Park, Dublin
attendance=67,866
referee= G. FitzGerald (Limerick)

{| width=100% style="font-size: 90%"MATCH RULES
*60 minutes.
*Replay if scores level.
*Three named substitutes

References

* Corry, Eoghan, "The GAA Book of Lists" (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
* Donegan, Des, "The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games" (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).
* Sweeney, Éamonn, "Munster Hurling Legends" (The O'Brien Press, 2002).

ee also