Cork The Conquerors; 50th Anniversary of Cork Senior Football All Ireland Success 23rd September 1973
September 23rd 1973 will be forever etched in the memory as Cork Senior Footballers garnered the Sam Maguire, symbol of All Ireland supremacy with victory over Galway at Croke Park.
Hereunder is the text from Cork Examiner on Monday 24th September penned by Jim O’Sullivan;
CORK THE CONQUERORS;
Cork 3-17 Galway 2-13
THE SAM MAGUIRE CUP will be a welcome stranger in Cork tonight.
It trilled the hearts of thousands in Croke Park yesterday as a Cork captain raised it in triumph for the first time in 28 years, and for months to come – possibly even years – it will bear witness to the might of a new generation of footballers. The barrier had at last been broken and Galway, even in defeat, could hardly begrudge Bill Morgan and his brilliant band that long-sought All-Ireland senior title.
The grace and skill of this team, and the expertise with which they achieved their victory, must wipe out the bitter memory of years of disappointment and frustrations since Tadg Crowley led the ’45 team to success. Cork were magnificent in their greatest hour and fully vindicated the great confidence reposed in them.
They may have unnerved the throngs of supporters for a period 1nthe second half, but never the less they played like winners from the beginning and nobody could dispute their right to be champions. I can’t help comparing it to limerick’s victory.
Coming after such a long time, it was an emotional experience to witness the presentation of the trophy to Cork’s outstanding captain, Billy Morgan, so joyous for the players, trainer Donie O’Donovan, selectors and officials that one shudders at the thought of what it would have been like had the title eluded them as in 1956, ’57 and ’67.
Undoubtedly. a defeat would have put Cork football back ten years. Victory. on the other hand, raises speculation on the immediate prospects of the present team-rated by former Taoiseach Jack Lynch as the best ever to come out of Cork.
There was, when the final whistle sounded following an invasion of the pitch, a great sense of relief, and Cork supporters, made sceptical over the years by disappointing failures, gave full vent to emotions suppressed for so long, and wondered if it was but a dream.
Galway can have no excuses for losing. In fairness to them, however they made a brave bid to recover half way through the second half. when they reduced Cork’s lead to three points, and might
have succeeded against an inferior goalkeeper to Billy Morgan.
Overall, however, they were outsmarted by a team which had its stars in defence, and at midfield and they had nothing in their attack to rival the ingenuity or confidence of Cork’s Jim Barry Murphy, undoubtedly the find of the year after his most testing experience. Barry-Murphy scored a goal in the 32nd minute of the second half which will be remembered for decades to come.
Not only did it reassure Cork when they needed reassurance most, but it knocked the bottom out of Galway’s challenge. And at the end, the team which scored fifteen goals in four championship matches, had the added satisfaction of having the biggest score ever in an All-Ireland senior football final.
Cork settled in the game very early, thanks to Jimmy Barry Murphy’s first goal, a minute and fifty seconds, following the start, and after that they were never led. They began by dominating at midfield, more or less tied up the Galway defence and made the best use of the scoring openings they created.
At m1df1eeld, Denis Coughlan struck top form from the throw 1n and turned 1n what was probably his best ever display on a Cork football team. Denis Long, too, found his feet quickly and even if he wasn’t as spectacular as Coughlan, or as consistent, he was never outplayed by either Jimmy Duggan or W1ll1e
Joyce, who started on him, for too long.
There was uneasiness in the defence for a while, when Liam Sammon was getting to the ball before John Coleman, and Tom Naughton was posing problem for Humphrey Kelleher by playing out from the goalmouth. But these two never had the continu1ng support which the Cork forward enjoyed at the
other end, and the two Cork player improved as time went on.
Colman made two credible block downs, from Sammon and even if he did resort to pulling down on a few periods, he was strong enough for the Galway captain. Kelleher, to his credit, didn’t allow himself to be flustered, and settled down to play a great game to the very end.
During this time, Cork were, perhaps, fortunate that Frank Cogan was so much in command in the right corner, and that Con Hartnett emerged after an unsure start, to play so effectively at left half-back. But, of course Brian Murphy and Kevin Jer O’Sullivan were never in trouble in their positions, and Murphy was to play so brilliantly over the eighty minutes as to vie with Hartnett for the title of man of the match.
The Cork forwards weren’t as successful in the opening half, as had been expected, but they made their scores look easy at the same time. Declan Barron started well on Tommy Jo Gilmore and distributed the ball well, and while he wasn’t as dominant as he could have been, nevertheless he kept Galway’s star centre-back busy.
Surprisingly, Dave McCarthy never got on top against Liam O’Neill -Galway’s best half-back-and even a switch to the corner with Jimmy Barrett after a quarter of an hour didn’t bring a noticeable improvement in his play. On the other wing Ned Kirby saw little of the ball by comparison with the other half forwards, but he posed a lot of problem for Johnny Hughes, and more than justified his selection.
Jimmy Barrett, who scored Cork’s other goal, was consistently good, and on the wing he had much more scope. Ray Cummins kept Jack Cosgrove under pressure but didn’t achieve a great deal, and his best contribution-apart from making the all important second goal for Barry-Murphy-was 1n free taking.
Cummins showed his courage and leadership by taking over the free-taking from Barron, after the centre forward failed from two scorable positions. He kicked two over in the first half, and another
four at vital stages of the second half. And I think this fact highlighted the versatility of the Cork attack which of course lost its free specialist Billy Field 1n the sem1 final.
An indication of Cork’s superiority in the first half is the fact that Galway were scoreless from the 15th minute-when they trailed 0-3 to 1-2, until the 37th minute. During that time Cork demonstrated their superior power in the forward line with some great scores .and by the 28th minute they had
opened up a yawning lead of nine points, 1 .9 to 0-3.
DRAMATIC TURN
At that stage, there was a dramatic turn in the game. Jimmy Duggan took over at midfield when Coughlan tired for a short while, and a general easing up in the Cork team allowed Galway plenty of
breathing space. Morgan Hughes pointed a free in the 37th minute before Gilmore broke down the centre, cleverly by-passed Coleman and Kelleher, and pointed from the 21-yards line.
Duggan followed with Galway’s sixth shortly afterwards but Cummins pointed a free in injury time to leave Cork seven point ahead at the interval. 1-10 to 0-6. Under the circumstances it is fair to
assume that Galway might have narrowed the gap more if half time had not come so soon for them,.
They showed commendable spirit when coming out in the second half to resume their challenge at the same high standard. In the first nine minutes they added on three points, and Cork experienced
difficulty in getting back into their stride until after Long pointed a great free from the side-line in the 51st minute.
Morgan brought off a good save from Burke two minute later and Cork looked in contro1 again as Jimmy Barrett to0k over at centre forward from Barron. Points from Cummins and Kirby restored their seven point lead by the 59th minute.
Three minutes later, the game sprung to life after Hughes pointed and Tom Naughton had Galway’s first goal which Morgan maintains should never have been awarded. For the next five minutes the challengers threatened to break Cork’s grip on the game, and the fact that they didn’t is a tribute to the heroic Cork defence.
Brian Murphy was unbeatable in a full-back line which maintained in control, despite the early introduction of Frank Canavan and Hartnett continued to shine in the half back line, while O’Sullivan was well over Rooney on the other wing.
Liam Sammon was less of a threat, thanks to the vigilant play of Colman and the support he received from his wing-backs, and Galway lost ground steadily at midfield, once Coughlan and Long recovered their form.
However, the most significant feature was the steadiness which Declan Barron brought to the defence, when he replaced the injured Cole1nan. for the last twenty minutes. He fielded several balls over the head of Sammon and this master move by the selectors was another feather in their cap.
Naughton’s score left ju1t three poi1its between the sides but Cork edged another two in front when the pressure was greatest on them. Then, any element of doubt as to their ability to stay ahead disappeared completely after Barry Murphy’s magnificent goal.
Galway came agonisingly close to negating that score two minutes later when Jimmy Duggan raced through from close range only to see Morgan come out and smother the shot, Sammon tried unsuccessfully for a goal from a 21-yards free in the 75th minute, and at the other end shortly afterwards, substitute Donal Hunt overplayed the ball in front of goal, when Barry Murphy was loose, and had his shot charged down.
Morgan once again prevented Galway from goaling in the second last minute after saving from substitute Colin McDonagh and pushing the ball out for a fifty while on the ground. The Cork ‘keeper had no chance with Johnny Hughes shot in the second last minute which flashed past a packed goalmouth but it was of no avail. And then, as if to highlight their facility for creating scores, Jimmy Barrett finished off with an opportunist goal on the 81st minute.
This was the signal for an invasion by over enthusiastic Cork supporters and even though there may be another minute or so in injury time, referee John Maloney very wisely blew the full-time whistle.
Billy Morgan, as usual was an inspiration to the team which was prepared so expertly by coach Donie O’Donovan. Every man played his part, but none more so than Morgan, Frank Cogan, Brian Murphy, Con Hartnett, Denis Coughlan and Jimmy Barry-Murphy.
The full back line of Joe Waldron, Jack Cosgrove and Brendan Colleran was the best part of the Galway team. Others to impress were Liam O’Neill, Jimmy Duggan, and Morgan Hughes.
Even though I disagreed with some of John Maloney’s decisions early in the second half, I thought his handling of the match was up to his usual high standards.
TEAMS:
Cork: B. Morgan (capt.); F. Cogan, H. Kelleher. B. Murphy;
K. J.0 Sull1van. J. Coleman, C. Hartnett; D Long. D. Coughlan,
N Kirby. D. Barron, D. McCarthy; J. Barry Murphy. Ray Cummins.
J. Barrett; subs.: S. Coughlan for Coleman, 62nd minute ; Hunt for
McCarthy. 68th minute.
Galway: G. Mitchell, J. Waldron, J. Cosgrove, B. Colleran;
L. O’Neill, T. J. Gilmore, J. Hughes; W. Joyce, J. Duggan; M,
Burke,. L. Sammon ( capt); M. Rooney: J. Coughlan. T,
Naughton, M. Hughes; sub.: F. Canavan for Coughlan. 34th
minute; C. McDonagh for Burke, 70th minute.
Referee: John Moloney (Tipperary)
