All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1986

Infobox Hurling All-Ireland
year=1986


team=Cork
titles=26th
captain=Tom Cashman
manager=
munster=Cork
leinster=Kilkenny
ulster=Antrim
connacht=
poty=Ger Cunningham
matches=
The All-Ireland Hurling Championship 1986 ran from May to September of that year. The All-Ireland Hurling Final was won by Cork who beat Galway by 4-13 to 2-15.

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Final

In 1986 Cork faced Galway in the All-Ireland final. It was their first meeting in the All-Ireland decider since the notoriously ill-tempered final of 1953. In the lead up to the final Cork had won their fifth Munster Championship title in-a-row. On the other hand, Galway had captured a rare victory over Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final. The latter game has gone down in history as the day that Galway decided to play with only two men in the full-forward line, allowing the third player to supplement the half-forward line and the midfield players. The tactic certainly confused Kilkenny and resulted in a victory for Galway, thus making them favourites to capture the Liam McCarthy Cup.

At 3:15pm on Sunday, September 7 some 63,451 people packed into Croke Park for the championship decider. Once again Galway had opted for the two-man full-forward line, leaving Cork's Johnny Crowley all alone at left corner-back. The decision by Crowley to remain in his usual position gave Cork a territorial and a psychological advantage as he made great use of the freedom and space at his disposal. Galway were slow to start in the game and found themselves trailing by two goals, courtesy of John Fenton and Kevin Hennessy, after just twenty minutes. Galway quickly resorted to the traditional three-man full-forward line and soon clawed their way back. Galway's Tony Keady provided an exhibition of long-range free-taking in the opening 35 minutes and at half-time Cork only led by a pointL: 2-5 to 0-10.

The second-half proved to be a real duel between both sides. After fifteen minutes Tomás Mulcahy lashed home a third goal for Cork, before Kevin Hennessy got his second goal and Cork's fourth of the day. It wasn't all one-way as John Commins, the Galway goalkeeper, brought his side back into the game with a goal from a penalty. A further goal from Galway's P.J. Molloy proved to be too little too late and failed to make a difference. The last score of the day, a point for Cork, came from the hurley of one of the all-time greats of hurling, Jimmy Barry-Murphy. It was his last championship game. The final score was Cork 4-13, Galway 2-15.

Results

----footballbox
date = July 19
Quarter-Final
team1 = Galway
score = 4-24 – 1-3
team2 = Kerry
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Cusack Park,
Ennis----footballbox
date = August 10
Semi-Final
team2 = Kilkenny
score = 4-15 – 1-10
team1 = Galway
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Semple Stadium,
Thurles----footballbox
date = August 10
Semi-Final
team1 = Cork
score = 7-11 – 1-24
team2 = Antrim
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Croke Park,
Dublin----footballbox
date = September 7
Final
team1 = Cork
score = 4-13 – 2-15
team2 = Galway
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Croke Park,
Dublin
Attendance: 63,451----

See also