Martin Coleman

For other people named Martin Coleman, see Martin Coleman (disambiguation).

Martin Coleman

Personal information
Irish name	Máirtín Ó Colmáin
Sport	Hurling
Position	Goalkeeper
Born	1 August 1950 (1950-08-01) (age 61) Ballinhassig, County Cork
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Occupation	Publican
Club(s)
Years	Club
1960s-1980s	Ballinhassig
Club Titles
Cork titles	0
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County	Apps (scores)
1970-1979	Cork	19 (0-0)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles	7 (2 as sub)
All Irelands	4 (1 as sub)

Martin Coleman (born 1 August 1950 in Ballinhassig, County Cork) is a retired Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Ballinhassig and with the Cork senior inter-county team from 1970 until 1979.

Playing career

Club

Coleman played his club hurling with his local Ballinhassig club and enjoyed some success. He won county medals at junior level in 1973 and at intermediate level in 1975 and 1977.

Inter-county

Although small in stature, standing just 5' 7", Coleman’s acrobatics as goalkeeper on various Cork hurling teams thrilled supporters. He frequently made full-length saves followed by long puck-outs which regularly set-up scores at the other end of the field. He first came to prominence as a goalkeeper in 1968 when he won a Munster minor medal, however, Cork lost the subsequent All-Ireland final to Wexford. Coleman won a second Munster minor title in 1969 before later adding an All-Ireland med al to his collection following a victory over Kilkenny. In 1970 and 1971 Coleman won back-to-back Munster and All-Ireland medals at under-21 level.

By this stage Coleman had joined the Cork senior hurling panel. He made his senior championship debut in 1970, coming on as a substitute in the All-Ireland semi-final victory over London. It would be 1974, however, before he became a semi-regular member of the team, coming on as a substitute against Waterford in that year’s championship. The following year (1975) Coleman became the number-one choice as Cork goalkeeper. That year he won his first senior Munster title, however, Cork were later defeated by Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final. In 1976 he won a second Munster title, a victory which allowed Cork to advance directly to the All-Ireland final. Coleman faced a nightmare start as Wexford scored two goals in the first eight minutes. Cork quickly settled into the game and defeated the men from the Model County on a score line of 2-21 to 4-11, giving Coleman his first senior All-Ireland title.

In 1977 Coleman captured a second Munster title and Cork qualified for a second consecutive All-Ireland final.^[1] Coleman turned out to be the hero of the game, making two great saves in the last two minutes of the game to clinch a second consecutive All-Ireland title for himself and for Cork. 1978 saw Coleman add a fourth provincial medal to his collection. It was a special year for Cork hurling as the team later defeated Kilkenny in the championship decider, giving Coleman a third All-Ireland medal in-a-row. In 1979 he won a fifth consecutive Munster medal, however, Cork were caught on the hop by Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final. Following this defeat Coleman retired from inter-county hurling at the relatively young age of twenty-nine.

In spite of winning three consecutive All-Ireland medals with Cork he failed to win a single All-Star award as the 1970s proved to be a golden era for goalkeeping excellence. Noel Skehan of Kilkenny and Séamus Durack of Clare kept Coleman from claiming a spot on the All-Star selection.

Provincial

Coleman also lined out with Munster in the inter-provincial hurling competition. He captured two Railway Cup medals as goalkeeper of his province in 1976 and 1978.

Post-playing career

In retirement from hurling Coleman remained closely involved in the game. He served as a selector at senior and under-21 levels with Cork from 1990 until 2002 and saw his native-county win several All-Ireland titles during that period. Coleman's son, Martin Coleman, Jnr, is currently a member of the Cork senior hurling panel, following in his father's footsteps as a goalkeeper.

References

1. ^ Morrison, Tom (19 July 1991). "Jim and Cork ready to ’cash’ in". Hogan Stand. http://www.hoganstand.com/Cork/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=49012. Retrieved 13 March 2010. 

Teams

Persondata
Name	Coleman, Martin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1 August 1950
Place of birth	Ballinhassig
Date of death
Place of death