All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2001

Infobox Hurling All-Ireland


year=2001
munster=Tipperary
leinster=Kilkenny
ulster=Down
connacht=
matches=
poty=Tommy Dunne
team=Tipperary
titles=25th
captain=Tommy Dunne
manager=Nicky English
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 2001 was the 115th edition of Ireland’s premier hurling competition. The championship ran from May to September of that year, culminating with the All-Ireland final, held at Croke Park, Dublin on 9 September. The match was contested by Tipperary and Galway, with Tipperary taking the title by 2-18 to 2-15. 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:
* The winners of the Munster Championship advanced directly to one of the All-Ireland semi-finals.
* The winners of the Leinster Championship advanced directly to the second All-Ireland semi-final.
* The winners of the Ulster Championship advanced directly to one of the All-Ireland quarter-finals were they drawn to play Galway. The winners of this game would later play the Leinster champions in the All-Ireland semi-final.
* The Munster runners-up were drawn to play the Leinster runners-up in the second All-Ireland quarter-final. The winners of this game would later play the Munster champions in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Provincial Hurling Championship Results

*Leinster: Kilkenny 2-19 : 0-12 Wexford
*Munster: Tipperary 2-16 : 1-17 Limerick
*Ulster: Derry 1-17 : 3-10 Down

Results

Munster Senior Hurling Championship

footballbox
date = May 27
Quarter-Final
team1 = Limerick
score = Win – Lose
team2 = Cork
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork----footballbox
date = June 3
Semi-Final
team1 = Tipperary
score = Win – Lose
team2 = Clare
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork----footballbox
date = June 10
Semi-Final
team1 = Limerick
score = Win – Lose
team2 = Waterford
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork----footballbox
date = July 1
Final
team1 = Tipperary
score = 2-16 – 1-17
team2 = Limerick
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork----

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

footballbox
date = July 29
Quarter-Final
team1 = Wexford
score = 4-10 – 2-15
team2 = Limerick
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Croke Park,
Dublin----footballbox
date = July 29
Quarter-Final
team1 = Galway
score = 4-23 – 1-11
team2 = Derry
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Croke Park,
Dublin----footballbox
date = August 12
Semi-Final
team2 = Tipperary
score = 1-16 – 3-10
team1 = Wexford
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Croke Park,
Dublin----footballbox
date = August 18
Semi-Final
Replay
team1 = Tipperary
score = 3-12 – 0-10
team2 = Wexford
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Croke Park,
Dublin----footballbox
date = August 19
Semi-Final
team1 = Galway
score = 2-15 – 1-13
team2 = Kilkenny
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Croke Park,
Dublin

All-Ireland final

Overview

Sunday September 9 was the date of the All-Ireland senior hurling final between Tipperary and Galway. Tipperary last appeared in the championship decider in 1997 when they were defeated by Clare in the first all-Munster All-Ireland final. It was ten years since Tipp last win the title. Galway last saw action on All-Ireland hurling final day in 1993 when they went down to Kilkenny. They last captured the Liam McCarthy Cup in 1988 when they defeated Tipperary. Both Tipperary and Galway last met in the All-Ireland quarter-final in 2000 when Galway emerged victorious.

Match report

At 3:30pm match referee Pat O’Connor threw-in the sliothar and the game was on. Both sides recorded an early wide as Tipperary’s Lar Corbett and Galway’s Alan Kerins both failed to hit the target in the opening exchanges. The first score of the day came from the Tipp captain Tommy Dunne who sent the sliothar between the posts from out wide on the left in the third minute. Eoin Kelly converted a free soon afterwards to give Tipperary a two-point cushion over Galway. Eugene Cloonan sent over another wide for Galway with his first attempt, however, his club mate Joe Rabbitte fought off two Tipp opponents to open Galway’s scoring account in the sixth minute. Galway were dominant throughout the next passage of play, however, their superiority in the possession stakes was not converted into scores as a series of poor wides resulted in Tipp still holding their lead. Soon after this Eoin Kelly sent the sliothar over the crossbar again to score his second point of the day from a free. He later tapped over his first point from play from an acute angle before scoring another free to give Tipp a 0-5 to 0-1 lead.

Eugene Cloonan began the fight back for Galway and sent over the Galway teams’ second point of the day. This was cancelled out almost immediately when Tommy Dunne stretched his sides lead once again. Galway’s forwards were having an off day as they hit six wides in all over the course of the first twenty minutes. A five-minute spell soon after the twenty minute mark saw a glut of scores being recorded. Mark O'Leary gave Tipperary a huge boost when he received a pass from Declan Ryan and sent the sliothar crashing to the net. Galway responded immediately and a Eugene Cloonan free ate into Tipp’s lead once again. Eoin Kelly continued his deadly accuracy as a free taker when he converted another point after a Galway transgression. Just when it looked as if Tipp were going to run away with the game goalkeeper Brendan Cummins saved a shot from Alan Kerins from point-blank range, however, the sliothar wasn’t cleared and fell to Eugene Cloonan who slotted it into the net. Captain Tommy Dunne gave Tipperary a four-point cushion shortly afterwards when he landed a 65-metre free before John Carroll added another Tipperary point on the stroke of the twenty-sixth minute. Eoin Kelly sent over his fifth point of the day when he converted another free before Kevin Broderick registered a fine point for the Galway men. Fergal Healy reduced the deficit even further when he deftly flicked the sliothar over the crossbar. Broderick added another point shortly afterwards to give the Galway fight back some momentum. Eugene Cloonan was able to tack on another point for Galway just before the break, leaving the Galway men trailing by 1-9 to 1-7 at the break. Galway were still in the game in spite of hitting nine wides over the opening thirty-five minutes.

Tipp got the first score of the second-half when Mark O’Leary exposed the Galway defence by dribbling the sliothar along the ground all the way to the net for his second goal. Eugene Cloonan responded when he converted a free but Tommy Dunne hit his second 65-metre free of the afternoon. This was followed by a fine point from Declan Ryan giving Tipp a lead of by 2-11 to 1-8. Kevin Broderick narrowed the deficit with his third point of the afternoon while Fergal Healy was most unlucky when his effort rebounded off the upright. Mark Kerins’s solitary point was book ended by two Lar Corbett points, however, Tipp still led by 2-12 to 1-10 with just over twenty minutes left in the game. Galway were under pressure again, however, Kerins answered the call with his second point of the day. Tipp nearly finished off the game soon afterwards; however, Declan Ryan’s goal chance went to the right of the post and wide. The Galway goalkeeper showed his heroics as he kept his side in the game after the Galway defence was breached again while up at the other end of the field Fergal Healy’s shot hit the upright for the second time.

Galway turned the tables on Tipp shortly after and put their defence under pressure. Kevin Broderick sent the sliothar over the bar for his fourth point of the afternoon before later registering his first wide of the game. With about ten minutes left in the game Tipperary were forced to make several changes to counteract the Galway dominance, however, Fergal Healy took full advantage of the changes when he burst through to score a goal from a seemingly impossible angle. Eoin Kelly subsequently pointed for the sixth time of the game to put his side two points ahead with eight minutes left. Mark O’Leary and Paddy O’Brien increased Tipperary’s lead when they both scored two more points for the Munster champions. Kevin Broderick pointed again for his team and scored a late goal, however, this was disallowed as the referee had sounded his whistle for an off-the-ball offence and Tipp escaped with a free out. Tommy Dunne’s third 65-metre free sailed over the crossbar and put four points between the sides again but Fergal Healy clawed one back for Galway soon afterwards. Eoin Kelly made it 2-18 to 2-14 a minute from the long whistle while Eugene Cloonan pointed from a free deep into injury time. That was the final score of the match and Tipperary went on to capture a 2-18 to 2-15 victory.

tatistics

footballbox
date=2001-09-09
15:30 BST
team1=Tipperary
score=2-18 – 2-15
team2=Galway
report=
goals1=M. O'Leary (2-1)
E. Kelly (0-7)
T. Dunne (0-5)
L. Corbett (0-2)
J. Carroll (0-1)
D. Ryan (0-1)
P. O'Brien (0-1)
goals2=E. Cloonan (1-5)
F. Healy (1-2)
K. Broderick (0-5)
M. Kerins (0-2)
J. Rabbitte (0-1)
stadium=Croke Park, Dublin
attendance=68,515
referee=Pat O'Connor (Limerick)

Paths to the final

References

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

External links

* [http://www.GAA.ie Official GAA Website]