All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1969

Infobox Hurling All-Ireland
year=1969


team=Kilkenny
titles=17th
captain=Eddie Keher
manager=
munster=Cork
leinster=Kilkenny
ulster=
connacht=
poty=Ted Carroll
matches=
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1969 was the 82nd 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 Croke Park, Dublin on 7 September. The match was contested by Kilkenny and Cork, with Kilkenny taking the title by 2-15 to 2-9. 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 the All-Ireland final.
* The winners of the Leinster Championship played London in a lone All-Ireland semi-final.
* The Ulster Championship remained suspended due to a lack of competition.
* Galway, a team who faced no competition in the Connacht Championship, played in the Munster Championship for the eleventh consecutive year.

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

footballbox
date = August 17
Semi-Final
team1 = Kilkenny
score = 3-22 – 1-10
team2 = London
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Croke Park,
Dublin----

All-Ireland final

Overview

Sunday 7 September was the date of the 1969 All-Ireland senior hurling final between Kilkenny and Cork. It was both teams first appearance in the championship decider since they both contested the 1966 final. Cork were victorious on that occasion, however, Kilkenny hadn’t defeated their old enemies since 1947.

The weather on the day was fine and mild with the elements combining to provide excellent conditions for hurling.

In the week leading up to the big game Cork were dealt a huge blow with regard to their team selection. Star midfielder Justin McCarthy was involved in a motorcycle accident on his way to a training session with the team. His injuries, inclusing a broken leg, naturally ruled him out of the game.

Match report

With the pre-match festivities completed the game began at 3:15pm. The opening minutes of the game were played at a frantic pace. Cork recorded the first score of the day after two minutes when Charlie McCarthy sent the sliothar flying past goalkeeper Ollie Walsh for a goal. The next passage of play saw both teams produce some sparkling hurling. Both sides recorded six points, however, Cork still led by that vital goal and had the upper hand in most parts of the field. Cork exerted their dominance once again shortly afterwards when Eddie O'Brien smashed a second goal to the net after he received a carefully placed Pat Hegarty pass. In spite of having a six-point cushion ‘the Rebels’ forged ahead even more when O’Brien added to his tally with another point shortly afterwards. Charlie McCarthy put his team nine points ahead almost immediately when he converted a brace of points. Kilkenny’s single reply was a point by their captain and start player Eddie Keher. It was in the closing minutes of the opening half that Kilkenny really gave their response to Cork’s dominance. Paddy Lawlor tapped over another point for ‘the Cats’ before the turning point of the match occurred. Cork’s goalkeeper, Paddy Barry, somehow dropped his hurley as he moved out to collect a dropping sliothar. His attempted catch failed and Kilkenny’s Martin Brennan whipped the sliothar into the net to narrow the deficit even further. In spite of Cork’s dominance over the opening thirty minutes they still only led by three points at half-time. The score of 2-6 to 1-6 gave Kilkenny hope in spite of being outplayed during many passages of play.

Ted Carroll was Kilkenny’s outstanding player of the first half; however, after the interval the whole team clicked and sprang into action. ‘The Cats’ defence limited Cork’s scoring tally in the second half to just three scores. Those three points all came from the hurley of Charlie McCarthy who finished the day with a tally of 1-6. Kilkenny dominated the second thirty minutes of play with Eddie Keher mastering the centre-forward position when Pat Delaney went off injured. The score that put the nail into Cork’s coffin was when substitute Paddy Moran sent over a point from all of 80 yards out the field. Kilkenny tacked on another five points in a seven minute spell just before the end and at the final whistle the score read Kilkenny 2-15; Cork 2-9.

tatistics

footballbox
date=1969-09-07
15:15 BST
team1=Kilkenny
score=2-15 – 2-9
team2=Cork
report=
goals1=
goals2=
stadium=Croke Park, Dublin
attendance=66,844
referee=

{| width=100% style="font-size: 90%"MATCH RULES
*60 minutes.
*Replay if scores level.
*Three named substitutes

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