All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1946

Infobox Hurling All-Ireland
year=1946


team=Cork
titles=15th
captain=Christy Ring
manager=
munster=Cork
leinster=Kilkenny
ulster=Antrim
connacht=
poty=
matches=The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1946 was the 60th 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 1 September. The match was contested by Cork and Kilkenny, with Cork taking the title by 7-5 to 3-8. 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, the representatives from the Ulster Championship, were drawn to play the Leinster champions in the All-Ireland semi-final.
* Galway, a team who faced no competition in the Connacht Championship, automatically advanced to the All-Ireland semi-final where they were drawn to play the Munster champions.

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

footballbox
date = July 27
Semi-Final
team1 = Cork
score = 2-10 – 0-3
team2 = Galway
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = St. Brendan's Park,
Birr----footballbox
date = August 4
Semi-Final
team1 = Kilkenny
score = 7-11 – 0-7
team2 = Antrim
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Croke Park,
Dublin----

All-Ireland final

Overview

Sunday 1 September was the date of the 1946 All-Ireland senior hurling final between Kilkenny and Cork. It was Cork’s fifth appearance in the championship decider in six years. They won a record four titles in-a-row between 1941 and 1944. Kilkenny were contesting their first All-Ireland final since they were defeated by Limerick in 1940. Cork and Kilkenny last met in the famous ‘thunder and lightning’ final of 1939.

An attendance of 64,415 turned up at Croke Park for the All-Ireland final. The stands had been pre-booked and so great was the demand for sideline seats that the gates at Croke Park were locked an hour before the senior final began. As a result of this move 5,000 spectators were locked out.

Match report

With the pre-match festivities completed the game began at 3:15pm. With an overcast sky and mist falling on the morning of the game, the pitch was very wet and the conditions made it very difficult for the players. The people inside the stadium were not disappointed as they witnessed one of the great one-man shows of hurling as Christy Ring began his transformation into one of the all-time greats of the game. The mantle had been passed on from Mick Mackey to Ring.

The opening exchanges saw both Cork and Kilkenny go score for score with little separating the sides. Over the course of the first thirty minutes many thought the big occasion had ruffled Cork captain Christy Ring. He had lost his touch with his frees and his trade mark solo runs were smothered by Kilkenny’s Jimmy Kelly. With the opening thirty minutes almost completed Cork preserved a slender 1-3 to 0-5 lead. With time running out Christy Ring, who had been stifled up to that point, scored one of the greatest goals in the history of All-Ireland finals. A clearance by Paddy O'Donovan fell to ring about 70 yards from the Kilkenny goalpost. He picked up the sliothar onto his hurley and headed towards the goal. Ring sped past Kilkenny captain Jack Mulcahy, sidestepped defenders Walsh and Butler and finished off by flicking the ball past goalkeeper Jim Donegan from close range. For Donegan, who had already lost two All-Ireland finals playing with Dublin, it was another hugely frustrating day as goalkeeper. This score gave Cork a 2-3 to 0-5 lead at the interval, a lead that they would not surrender again.

The match restarted at a lightning pace with Christy Ring tapping over another point to give Cork a five-point lead. Immediately after the puck out Ring set up another Cork attack that resulted in Mossie O'Riordan capturing a third goal for ‘the Rebels’. This goal, however, was cancelled out just as quickly when Terry Leahy captured Kilkenny’s first goal of the day. These ferocious exchanges took place all in the space of three minutes, however, at the end of the first quarter Cork still led by five points. Three quick Kilkenny points in succession reduced the lead to just two points. Ring, however, was still tormenting the Kilkenny players in the centre of the field. Cork were not finished yet as a further two goals by Con Murphy and one each by Mossie O’Riordan and Joe Kelly ensured a 7-5 to 3-8 victory for Cork.

tatistics

footballbox
date=1944-09-01
15:15 BST
team1=Cork
score=7-5 – 3-8
team2=Kilkenny
report=
goals1=
goals2=
stadium=Croke Park, Dublin
attendance=64,415
referee=

ee also