All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1984

Infobox Hurling All-Ireland
year=1984


team=Cork
titles=25th
captain=John Fenton
manager=
munster=Cork
leinster=Offaly
ulster=
connacht=
poty=John Fenton
matches=
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1984 was the 97th 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 Semple Stadium, Thurles on 2 September. The match was contested by Cork and Offaly, with Cork taking the title by 3-16 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:
* 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 the semi-final against the Munster winnes.
* Galway, a team who faced no competition in the Connacht Championship, were designated to play the All-Ireland ‘B’ champions in a lone All-Ireland ‘quarter-final’. The winners of this game would later play the Leinster champions in the second All-Ireland semi-final.

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

footballbox
date = July 22
Quarter-Final
team1 = Galway
score = 2-17 – 2-8
team2 = Westmeath
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = St. Brendan's Park,
Birr----footballbox
date = August 5
Semi-Final
team1 = Offaly
score = 4-15 – 1-10
team2 = Galway
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Semple Stadium,
Thurles----footballbox
date = August 5
Semi-Final
team1 = Cork
score = 3-26 – 2-5
team2 = Antrim
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Croke Park,
Dublin----

All-Ireland final

Overview

Sunday September 2 was the date of the 1984 centenary All-Ireland senior hurling final between Cork and Offaly. It was Cork's third consecutive appearance in the final, after suffering two defeats by Kilkenny in 1982 and 1983, while Offaly were lining out in their first championship decider since they won the title in 1981. In spite of the GAA celebrating its 100th anniversary, this was the first ever championship meeting between these two sides.

Since 1914, Croke Park in Dublin had been the home of the All-Ireland senior hurling final every year. Only in 1937 had the championship decider moved out of the capital city to FitzGerald Stadium in Killarney. 1984, however, was special as it was the centenary year of the Gaelic Athletic Association. To mark the occasion it was deemed fitting that the All-Ireland final be played in the "home of hurling" and the town where the association was established. Because of this Semple Stadium in Thurles was the venue for this very special championship final.

The weather on the day was fine and sunny; however, it was also a very humid day which resulted in many players suffering the effects of fatigue by the end of the game.

Both sides lined out in their usual jerseys. Offaly wore their green, white and gold strip while Cork lined out in their traditional red jerseys. There was one special change to the Cork strip that was introduced prior to the game. The Cork jersey now had the word ‘Corcaigh’ emblazoned across the front while the jersey also contained the GAA centenary logo. Only one set of these jerseys were made.

Pre-match celebrations

As part of the centenary celebrations a special presentation took place prior to the game itself. All living former All-Ireland winning captains were given a special introduction onto the field. On that occasion the 60,000 spectators took to their feet as they witnessed some of the greatest hurlers in the history of the game take to the field. 84-year-old Eudie Coughlan, Cork’s All-Ireland winning captain of 1931, was the first former great to be introduced to the crowd. Shortly afterwards Semple Stadium witnessed one of the biggest cheers of the day as Jack Lynch, Cork’s All-Ireland winning captain of 1942 and former Taoiseach, made his way onto the pitch. Lynch was followed by his former team mates Mick Kennefick and Seán Condon who captained Cork to the All-Ireland titles in 1943 and 1944 respectively.

Pat Stakelum, Seán Kenny and Jimmy Finn, Tipperary’s three-in-a-row All-Ireland winning captains of 1949, 1950 and 1951 were the next players to be introduced to the Thurles crowd. Paddy Barry of Cork’s 1952 team was followed by Wexford’s Nick O'Donnell, who had recently been named on the GAA Hurling Team of the Century as the greatest full-back in the history of the game and was captain of Wexford’s 1955 and 1960 All-Ireland winning teams. He was followed by his fellow county man Jim English who played a key role in helping Wexford retain the title in 1956.

The 1950s and 1960s saw Tipperary and Kilkenny come to dominate the All-Ireland series. Tony Wall, Tipp’s captain from 1958, was followed by Frankie Walsh of Waterford, the 1959 All-Ireland winning captain and the last man to captain that county to the title. Matt Hassett captained Tipperary to the 1961 All-Ireland title before handing over the captaincy to his Tipp team mate Jimmy Doyle, regarded by many as one of the greatest players of all-time and All-Ireland winning captain of 1962 and 1965. He was followed by Séamus Cleere, Kilkenny’s captain of 1963 and Mick Murphy, Tipperary’s victorious captain of 1964. Gerald McCarthy was one of the youngest captains to take to the field. He was only twenty years-old when he guided Cork to the All-Ireland title in 1966. McCarthy was followed onto the field of play by Kilkenny’s 1967 captain, Jim Treacy and Wexford’s 1968 captain, Dan Quigley. At the time Quigley was the last Wexford man to captain his county to the All-Ireland title. There was another great cheer from the crowd as Eddie Keher, recently named on the Team of the Century and Kilkenny’s All-Ireland winning captain of 1969, was introduced and made his way onto the field. He was followed by another Paddy Barry, Cork’s All-Ireland winning captain of 1970, and Tadhg O'Connor, Tipp’s victorious captain from 1971.

The rest of the 1970s saw Cork and Kilkenny claim dominance in the championship. Noel Skehan, one of the greatest goalkeepers of all-time, took to the field as the All-Ireland winning captain of 1972. He was followed by Éamonn Grimes, the last man to captain Limerick to a championship title in 1973. Nicky Orr and Billy Fitzpatrick were next onto the filed as Kilkenny’s winning captains of 1974 and 1975 respectively. They were followed by three Corkmen, Ray Cummins, Martin O'Doherty and Charlie McCarthy, victorious captains from Cork’s three-in-a-row in 1976, 1977 and 1978. The decade ended with Ger Fennelly leading Kilkenny to All-Ireland victory for the fourth time that decade. Joe Connolly, Galway’s first All-Ireland winning captain in 57 years, received a warm welcome as he arrived on the pitch. The All-Ireland winning captain of 1981, Pádraig Horan, represented Ofafly’s sole win in the championship; however, he was playing in the All-Ireland final later that afternoon. Kilkenny’s Brian Cody was next onto the field as he joined the elite group of All-Ireland winning captains in 1982. The last man onto the field that day was Liam Fennelly, Kilkenny’s victorious captain of 1983, the 81st man to captain a team to an All-Ireland title.

Match report

With the pre-match festivities completed the game began. The opening minutes were played at a frantic pace with the Offaly men testing the Cork defence and Ger Cunningham’s goalkeeping skills after just a few seconds of play. The openings core of the day came for Cork when John Fenton converted a free for his team after just one minute. The next five minutes saw Mark Corrigan record two wides for Offaly while Fenton sent the sliothar wide for Cork after a sideline cut. On the stroke of six minutes Pat Carroll put Offaly on the scoreboard when he converted a point from play. Pádraig Horan put Offaly in the lead less than a minute later when he scored another point. Cork’s Tony O'Sullivan leveled the scores less than a minute later before Horan gave his side a 0-3 to 0-2 lead once again after converting a free. The next passage of play saw Cork’s confidence diminish as Tim Crowley, Pat Hartnett and John Fenton recorded three consecutive wides for Cork. Pat Delaney did likewise for Offaly shortly afterwards when he sent a ’65 wide.

The next passage of play saw both sides record tit-for-tat scores once again. A Tony O’Sullivan point leveled the scores for the third time of the match before Pat Delaney sent over ’65 to give Offaly the narrowest of leads once again. Cork rallied once again with O’Sullivan scoring an inspirational point from an almost impossible angle by the sideline. Ironically, he missed a relatively easy score shortly afterwards. Mark Corrigan captured Offaly’s fifth point of the day after twenty-two minutes of play before he too sent his next shot wide. Pat Carroll increased the margin between the two teams when he also scored a point to put Offaly ahead by 0-6 to 0-4. This period of dominance was negated juts a few minutes later when Cork captured the first goal of the day. Jimmy Barry-Murphy, who was largely anonymous up until that point, sent a pass into Seánie O'Leary. O’Leary controlled the sliothar on his hurley before sending it past Damien Martin into the Offaly net. After being two points down Cork were now ahead by a point. Offaly went on the attack immediately after the puck out, however, Pat Carroll’s shot went just wide of the post. John Fenton missed the chance to put Cork two points ahead when his shot also went wide for the fourth time, however, Tomás Mulcahy increased the margin when he got Cork’s last score of the first half. Mark Corrigan recorded Offaly’s last score of the half when he pointed just on the stroke of half-time. The score at the interval gave Cork a narrow lead of 1-5 to 0-7.

While the first half was a close affair Cork took over completely in the second. John Fenton stretched Cork’s lead to two points when he sent over a free shortly after the restart. Cork went on the rampage after this score with five more unanswered points courtesy of Tony O’Sullivan, John Fenton, Seánie O’Leary, Fenton again and O’Sullivan again. At this point it looked as if the game was running away from Offaly; however, Cork did not relent. A Kevin Hennessy shot on goal was blocked by goalkeeper Damien Martin; however, it landed into the waiting hand of Jimmy Barry-Murphy who sent a low shot into the goal. That shot was also blocked but only as far as Kevin Hennessy who had the simplest of taps into the Offaly net for Cork’s second goal. This gave Cork a ten-point lead with a score line of 2-11 to 0-7. Offaly fought back but Joe Dooley’s shot on goal was saved by Ger Cunningham and was sent out over the line. Pat Delaney converted the subsequent ’65 to reduce the deficit and to record Offaly’s first score of the second half after seventeen minutes. Just when Offaly were getting back into the swing of things Cork went on the rampage again. A long clearance by Johnny Crowley bounced just in front of Seánie O’Leary who broke away from his marker and goaled for the third time for Cork. It was a personal triumph for O’Leary, Cork’s longest-serving player. Cork now led by 3-11 to 0-8.

Pat Delaney reduced the deficit with a ’65 and then with a free shortly afterwards, however, Offaly still trailed by ten points. John Fenton increased Cork’s lead even more when he captured his first point from play shortly a Joe Dooley shot went wide. Both sides exchanged tit-for-tat scores once again for the final eight minutes of the game. Tony O’Sullivan stretched Corks’ lead once again before Pat Carroll clawed one back for Offaly. John Fenton captured his second point from play on the stroke of the sixty-sixth minute before Pat Carroll reduced Cork’s lead once again with another point for Offaly. Just at the end of normal playing time Mark Corrigan scored a goal for Offaly, however, it was too little too late as Cork still led by eight points. This was Offaly’s last score of the game as John Fenton finished of his game with a seventh point. Pat Hartnett, Fenton’s partner at midfield, then sent over the final point of the day as a huge cheer erupted from the Cork fans at the sight of Hartnett with his fist clenched in delight at the 3-16 to 1-12 score line. The full-time whistle was blown immediately after the puck out and Cork had captured their twenty-fifth All-Ireland title.

tatistics

footballbox
date=1984-09-02
15:00 BST
team1=Cork
score=3-16 – 1-12
team2=Offaly
report=
goals1=S. O’Leary (2-1)
J. Fenton (0-7)
T. O’Sullivan (0-6)
K. Hennessy (1-0)
T. Mulcahy (0-1)
P. Hartnett (0-1)
goals2=M. Corrigan (1-2)
P. Carroll (0-4)
P. Delaney (0-4)
P. Horan (-2)
stadium=Semple Stadium, Thurles
attendance=59,814
referee=Paschal Long (Kilkenny)

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).
* Nolan, Pat, "Flashbacks: A Half Century of Cork Hurling" (The Collins Press, 2000).

External links

* [http://cork.gaa.ie/ Cork GAA website]
* [http://www.offaly.gaa.ie/ Offaly GAA website]
* [http://www.gaa.ie/ Gaelic Athletic Association website]

See also