Archive for All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final

Posted in GAA with tags , , on July 20, 2025 by telescoper

As it was foretold, today sees the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final at Croke Park in Dublin. Unfortunately the weather isn’t great: there’s been quite a lot of rain already today, and the forecast is for more. It’s also extremely humid (93%).

I will however be watching on TV from the comfort of my living room. For those of you in the UK, there is live coverage on BBC2 from 3pm.

This year’s final is between Cork and Tipperary and takes place this afternoon, Sunday 20th July, with the throw-in at 3.30pm. Cork are strong favourites, with bookies quoting odds of 3-1 on (or even shorter). That’s not surprising because they put seven goals past Dublin in their semi-final a couple of weeks ago.

I’ll update this post with the final score (for the files) when it’s all over.

HALF-TIME: Cork 1-16 Tipperary 0-13. A breathless first half with Tipperary playing with just one man up the field and packing the defence to avoid conceding goals, which they did until the very end of the first half when Shane Barrett scored the first. Tipperary actually had the sliotar in the net earlier on, but the goal was disallowed for a square ball: an attacking player cannot be inside the small rectangle (also known as the “6-yard box”) before the ball enters it. Very noticeable that Croke Park is a sea of red – clearly Cork supporters did better at getting tickets!

FULL-TIME: Cork 1-18 Tipperary 3-27. What an amazing turnaround, and a superb second-half performance from Tipperary! Cork completely disintegrated after half-time, scoring only two points in the half to Tipperary’s 23, including three goals (one of them a penalty that also resulted in Cork going down to 14 men). Nothing went right for Cork, who hit the woodwork 4 times even and even missed a penalty, but by then the game was already lost.

Tippperary are the 2025 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champions!

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All-Ireland Hurling Final Weekend

Posted in GAA with tags , , on July 18, 2025 by telescoper

Just a quick note, primarily for those of you not in Ireland, to point out that this weekend sees the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final at Croke Park. There’s always a fantastic atmosphere for this event and I’m looking forward to it enormously. It’s every bit as big as the FA Cup Final used to be when I was a kid.

This year’s final is between Cork and Tipperary and takes place on Sunday 20th July, with the throw-in at 3.30pm.

For those of you in the UK, there is live coverage on BBC2 from 3pm.

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The All-Ireland Hurling Final

Posted in GAA, Maynooth with tags , , , , , on July 21, 2024 by telescoper

No prizes for guessing what I’ll be watching this afternoon. Today’s the day of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final at Croke Park, between Clare and Cork. The weather isn’t too bad; it’s overcast and a bit cool but there’s no rain forecast and it’s not windy. I’m hoping for a good match.

Clare (An Clár) versus Cork (Corcaigh) is not the final I would have predicted before the semi-finals. I thought Limerick and Kilkenny would be the finalists but that just goes to show how little I know. Cork are favourites with the bookies, by the way (4/7 on Cork, 11/8 against Clare) despite the fact that Clare of won the last two encounters between these teams.

If you’ve never been in Ireland for this occasion you won’t realize what a huge event it is. The atmosphere on this very special day is very much like it used to be in England for the FA Cup Final when I was a kid and the build-up just as long, with constant references on both radio and TV. Maynooth is on the railway line going through Croke Park so we see a lot of supporters in their team colours heading to the match. County Clare (which is in the West of Ireland, straddled by Limerick to the South and Galway to the North) is a bit closer to us than County Cork, which perhaps accounts for the preponderance of blue and gold over red and white.

You can watch the whole game live on BBC2 if you’re in the UK. Throw-in is at 3.30pm.

Update: The attendance is 82,300.

Update: HT score Clare 1-12 Cork 1-12. It’s been a much more open game than I expected. Cork started out the stronger team, finding lots of space in the Clare half and shooting very accurately. Robert Downey scored a memorable goal at which point it looked like Cork might overrun Clare, but that didn’t happen and as the half drew to a close Clare became more confident. It’s all square and poised for an exciting second half.

Update: FT score Clare 3-21 Cork 1-27. What an epic game this is! All square on points after Clare conceded a silly free in the dying seconds to allow Cork to equalize. We go to extra time!

Update: Final Score Clare 3-29 Cork 1-34. Drama to the last second, a long free from the Cork goalie lands in the area but Robbie O’Flynn’s shot to tie the game goes agonizingly wide. Clare are the All-Ireland Champions by one-point. What a breathtaking match. Hats off to both teams for serving up a classic! I wouldn’t have complained if it had gone to a replay though…

Here is a clip of Clare’s amazing 3rd goal, scored by Tony Kelly…

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All-Ireland Hurling Final Day!

Posted in GAA with tags , , on July 23, 2023 by telescoper

Today’s the day! It’s the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final at Croke Park, between Kilkenny and Limerick (reigning champions). The weather isn’t as bad as forecast, but it’s still a bit wet. I’m hoping for a cracking match. The atmosphere in Ireland on this very special day is very much like it used to be for the FA Cup Final when I was a kid. Maynooth is closer to Kilkenny than Limerick but I saw more green shirts than black-and-amber in town this morning. I hope it’s a cracking match between two fierce rivals. In fact it’s a repeat of last year’s final.

Anyway, we’ve just had the throw-in. Updates later!

Half Time: Kilkenny 1-09 Limerick 0-09

It’s not a disappointment so far, in front of a crowd of 82,300. In the words of commentator Marty Morrissey “It’s a right old battle”. Kilkenny, giving it everything in a frantic, bruising match, are deservedly leading by 3 courtesy of a goal by Eoin Cody in the 10th minute. But Limerick are a strong, physical side can they get back into the game? Can Kilkenny keep up the intensity?

Full Time: Kilkenny 2-15 Limerick 0-30

So, after a dominant second-half display, Limerick win it comfortably, by 9 points. Kilkenny just couldn’t keep up the pressure on in the middle third of the pitch, allowing Limerick to rack up a big score with points from long range. For Kilkenny it was like a boxer fighting an opponent with a much longer reach. The longer the game went on the stronger Limerick got, and the more Kilkenny’s brave challenge faded.

That’s four in a row for Limerick, deserved Champions yet again!

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All-Ireland Hurling Final Day

Posted in GAA with tags , , , , , on December 13, 2020 by telescoper

As the absurd Pantomime of Brexit negotiations continues and I prepare for a very busy final week of an exhausting term I’m taking this afternoon off to watch the final of the All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship from Croke Park in Dublin. The final is between Limerick and Waterford, and is in effect a re-run of the 2020 Munster provincial final, which was won by Limerick. (The winners of the Leinster and Munster Provincial championships go straight into the semi-finals of the All-Ireland Championship, while the runners-up play in the Quarter-Finals).

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final usually takes place in August or September, but this year’s competition has been rescheduled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was raining very heavily overnight and into this morning in the Dublin are but the bad weather has cleared so I’m looking forward to a good match. According to the bookies, Limerick are strong favourites at 4/9 with Waterford at 5/2. Throw-in is at 3.30pm. The match will be played in a largely empty Croke Park, which means the atmosphere won’t be the same as in front of a crowd of 80,000 but I hope it will be enjoyable nonetheless. I’m not going to live blog the match but will update at half time and at the end.

As a bonus, the main event is preceded by the final of the Joe McDonagh Cup which is the second tier of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. This year’s final is between Antrim and Kerry. Antrim were strong favourites before the match and began the match better of the two teams, but Kerry fought back well from a poor start to lead 1-07 to 0-9 at half time.

UPDATE: Half-time Limerick 0-14 Waterford 0-11. The scoreline doesn’t really reflect Limerick’s dominance, but Waterford are doing well to stay in the game. Only three points in it. I still think Limerick will win.

UPDATE: Full-time Limerick 0-30 Waterford 0-19. Limerick just too strong for Waterford, who had no answer to the relentless accuracy of Limerick’s shooting from long range. Limerick’s defence also impressive, nullifying the threat from Waterford’s full forwards. Congratulations to Limerick.

Yesterday’s Irish Times prediction has aged well…

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