All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1900

Infobox Hurling All-Ireland
year=1900


team=Tipperary
titles=6th|
captain=Ned Hayes
manager=
munster=Tipperary
leinster=Kilkenny
ulster=Antrim
connacht=Galway
poty=
matches=
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1900 was the 14th edition of Ireland’s premier hurling knockout competition. The championship ran across three years from 1900, 1901 and 1902, culminating with the All-Ireland final, held at Jones’s Road, Dublin on 26 October, 1902. The match was contested by Tipperary, represented by Two-Mile-Borris, and London, represented by Desmonds, with Tipperary taking the title by 2-5 to 0-6. It was Tipperary’s third All-Ireland title in-a-row and their fifth in six years.

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:
* The winners of the Munster Championship advanced directly to the first All-Ireland semi-final.
* The winners of the Leinster Championship advanced directly to the first All-Ireland semi-final where they played the Munster champions.
* The winners of the Connacht Championship advanced directly to the second All-Ireland semi-final.
* The winners of the Ulster Championship advanced directly to the second All-Ireland semi-final where they played the Connacht champions.
* The winners of the two All-Ireland semi-finals played each other in the ‘home’ All-Ireland final.
* As a gesture to the exiled hurlers, London received a bye to the official All-Ireland final where they played the winners of the ‘home’ final.

Paths to the final

Tipperary

Tipperary began their campaign of 1900 with a Munster quarter-final meeting with Cork (Redmond’s). It was a tension-packed encounter from start to finish with hurling of an extremely high quality. Tipp trailed by 0-7 to 0-5 at half-time, however, the defenders gave an absolute exhibition in the second thirty minutes. Their forwards also worked more as a unit and Tipp eventually won the game by 0-12 to 0-9. This was Tipperary’s toughest game in the provincial championship. The Munster semi-final saw Clare providing the opposition, however, they were no match for Tipp who had an easy 6-11 to 1-6 victory. Kerry were the opponents in the Munster final, however, Tipperary racked up another 6-11 to ‘the Kingdom’s’ score of 2-1. A tougher and sterner contest awaited Tipperary in the All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny. It was their toughest game since their opening encounter with Cork. Once again, they were in arrears by 1-6 to 0-4 at half-time, however, Tipp dug dip and went on a scoring spree to win the game by 1-11 to 1-8. Tipperary’s fifth game in their championship campaign was the All-Ireland ‘home’ final with Galway. The men from the West had trounced Antrim in the second All-Ireland semi-final, however, they were completely out of their depth against Tipp who were superior all over the field and won easily by 6-13 to 1-5.

London

London’s passage to the All-Ireland final was less strenuous than Tipperary’s. In fact, the All-Ireland final was their first game in their championship campaign. This may have seemed unfair; however, it was a gesture of gratitude from the GAA to the many exiled hurlers overseas.

All-Ireland final

Overview

Sunday 26 October, 1902 was the date of the 1900 All-Ireland senior hurling final between Tipperary and London. It was Tipperary’s third consecutive appearance in the championship decider, having been victorious on the previous two occasions. London, on the other hand, were appearing in their first All-Ireland final ever. Both sides had never met before in the championship.

Match report

The All-Ireland final was a great occasion for the Gaelic Athletic Association. For the first time ever a team of exiles from London would line out against the ‘home’ champions. Nobody in the crowd of 8,000 quite knew quite what to expect in this unique encounter. Tipperary were perceived as being invincible while the London team was made up of all Munster men, some of whom were well known already in their native counties. The game turned into a close, tense affair with both sides showing great skill but no side taking an extensive lead. At half-time Tipperary had a narrow 0-5 to 0-3 lead. As the hour progressed a shock looked likely as the exiles took the game by the scruff of the neck. With three minutes left in the game London were leading Tipp by 0-6 to 0-5, however, the game wasn’t over yet. Dan Horgan attempted a puck-out for London, however, the sliothar got struck in a rut and he conceded a free. Captain Ned Hayes took the free and lobbed the sliothar in around the goalmouth. The forwards rushed it over the goal-line for the deciding goal; however, Tipp weren’t finished yet. A weak puck-out saw Hayes, Gleeson and O’Keeffe thunder in on goal to carry the sliothar in over the goal-line once again. In the space of a couple of minutes the game was turned on its head and victory was snatched away from London. A score line of 2-5 to 0-6 gave Tipp their third All-Ireland title in-a-row.

tatistics

footballbox
date=1902-10-26
team1=Tipperary
score=2-5 – 0-6
team2=London
report=
goals1=
goals2=
stadium=Jones’s Road, Dublin
attendance=c.8,000
referee= John McCarthy (Kilkenny)

References

* Corry, Eoghan, "The GAA Book of Lists" (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
* Donegan, Des, "The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games" (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).

ee also