- All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1972
Infobox Hurling All-Ireland
year=1972
team=Kilkenny
titles=18th
captain=Noel Skehan
manager=
munster=Cork
leinster=Kilkenny
ulster=
connacht=
poty=Eddie Keher
matches=
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1972 was the 85th edition ofIreland ’s premierhurling knockout competition. The championship ran from May to September of that year, culminating with the All-Ireland final, held atCroke Park ,Dublin on3 September . The match was contested by Kilkenny and Cork, with Kilkenny taking the title by 3-24 to 5-11. The prize for the winning team was theLiam 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.
* Antrim, a team who faced no other competition in the suspended Ulster Championship, were nominated to play in a lone All-Ireland ‘quarter-final’.
* Galway, a team who faced no competition in the Connacht Championship, were designated to play Antrim in the All-Ireland ‘quarter-final.’ The winners of this game would later play the Leinster champions in the All-Ireland semi-final.
* London were designated to play the Munster champions in the second All-Ireland semi-final.All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship footballbox
date =July 23
Quarter-Final
team1 = Galway
score = 3-24 – 5-11
team2 = Antrim
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium =Ballycastle ----footballbox
date =August 6
Semi-Final
team2 = Galway
score = 5-28 – 3-7
team1 = Kilkenny
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium =Croke Park ,Dublin ----footballbox
date =August 6
Semi-Final
team1 = Cork
score = 7-20 – 1-12
team2 = London
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Cork Athletic Grounds,
Cork----All-Ireland final
Overview
Sunday
3 September was the date of the 1972 All-Ireland senior hurling final between Cork and Kilkenny. It was Kilkenny’s second consecutive appearance in the final, after suffering a defeat by Tipperary in1971 , while Cork were lining out in their first championship decider since they won the title in1970 . Both sides had contested the All-Ireland final of1969 with victory going to Kilkenny..The weather on the day was fine and sunny with the elements combining to provide excellent conditions for hurling.
There was much excitement in the build up to the game with the press extolling the unique glamour of Cork and Kilkenny teams on All-Ireland final day. Everything from the style of hurling to the colour of the team jerseys was analysed. A classic game of hurling was anticipated.
Match report
With the pre-match festivities completed the game began at 3:15pm. The opening minutes of the game lived up to the expectation that’s that the game was going to be a classic. The openings core of the day came quickly for Kilkenny when
Mick Crotty sent his shot straight over the bar.Ray Cummins , Cork’sGaelic footballer -cum-hurler, responded for his team with a superbly executed goal sent low into the Hill 16 goalmouth. This score upped the tempo of the game and saw ‘the Cats’ go on the attack.Pat Henderson , Kilkenny’s star centre-back landed a huge free from his own half of the field to reduce the deficit to a single point. Shortly afterwards Liam ‘Chunky’ O’Brien leveled the sides before giving Kilkenny the lead with a second point soon afterwards.Eddie Keher , Kilkenny’s star free-taker, gave his side a two-point cushion soon afterwards as Cork had yet to register their first point of the day. That honour fell to Charlie McCarthy who sent over a 21-yard free to raise the first white flag for Cork of the day. He converted a second 21-yard free soon afterwards before landing a point from play. This score leveled the sides once again as it negated an earlier Eddie Keher effort.The opening exchanges saw Pat Henderson dominate the Kilkenny half-back line while
Denis Coughlan was Cork’s star player at midfield. Ray Cummins gavePa Dillon a torrid time as the full-back floundered against the tall Cork player.Noel Skehan , Kilkenny’s goalkeeper and captain, was also giving a great display as he denied the first of four goal chances that Cork had in the opening thirty minutes.Ray Cummins quickly gave Cork the lead when he converted another great score; however, Cork’s lead was short-lived as Liam O’Brien soon restored parity. A
Mick Malone point gave ‘the Rebels’ the lead once again beforeCon Roche sent a 65-yard free straight over the bar to put two points between the sides. Kilkenny fought back immediately with the dependable Liam O’Brien reducing Cork’s lead to just a single point when he landed another free. Just when Kilkenny were clawing their way back Mick Malone added to his scoring tally when he sent a shot into Noel Skehan’s net to give Cork a second goal of the first-half. Cork’s lead was eaten into almost immediately when John Kinsella scored his first point of the day to steal one back for ‘the Cats.’ Eddie Keher, who had a relatively quiet opening half by his own standards thanks to the close marking ofTony Maher , registered another score for Kilkenny soon afterwards courtesy of a free. Charlie McCarthy replied for Cork, however, Mick Crotty, the man who captured the first score of the half, also captured the last score of the half. Unfortunately, the Cork captainFrank Norberg had to retire injured late in the half. In spite of this Cork still led by 2-8 to 0-12 at the interval.While the first half served up an exciting feast of hurling, the second half truly enshrined the game as one of the classics of the modern era. There were a total of twenty two scores recorded. Six of these went to Cork with Mick Malone, Ray Cummins and
Seánie O'Leary scoring three more goals to put the team in the driving seat. The tenth score of the half really looked like Cork were on their way to triumph whenCon Roche sent over a magnificent 80-yard puck that had the Cork supporters celebrating. With thirteen minutes left in the game Cork led by 5-11 to 1-15, however, ‘the Rebels’ failed to score in the remaining time. Kilkenny’s three goals of the second half were scored byFrank Cummins who soloed the sliothar from his usual midfield position before sending it to the Cork net. Master marksman Eddie Keher captured two goals, one of which was scored from the sideline in the shadow of the Hogan Stand. In spite of having a quiet opening half Keher scored 2-9 in all as ‘the Cats’ reversed an eight-point deficit to win by a comfortable margin of seven. It was one of the greatest comebacks in the history of All-Ireland deciders. The final score was Kilkenny 3-24, Cork 5-11.tatistics
footballbox
date=1972-09-03
15:15 BST
team1=Kilkenny
score=3-24 – 5-11
team2=Cork
report=
goals1=
goals2=
stadium=Croke Park ,Dublin
attendance=66,137
referee= Mick Spain (Offaly)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).ee also
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