Cork-Meath league clashes in Croke Park - a curious history

If one were looking for omens, we might suggest it would be better for Cork to lose Sunday’s Allianz FL Division 2 final against Meath – it could be the winning of the All-Ireland.

It’s quite a jump, we accept, but on the last two occasions that the counties have clashed in Croke Park in the league, they have met again the same year with Sam Maguire on the line and the outcome reversed.

In 1999, a league semi-final finished 0-6 to 0-3 – that’s not a misprint – but Meath won by 1-11 to 1-8 that September to win what remains the county’s last All-Ireland; that of course denied Cork a double, whereas nine years previously, the Royals had been beaten as the Rebel footballers matched the achievements of the county’s hurlers.

Five months prior to that 0-11 to 0-9 win of 1990, Cork had lost to Meath in the league semi-final – and it perfectly illustrated the extent to which the competition serves varying purposes in a team’s developmental cycle.

In 1989, having lost two All-Ireland finals to Meath, beating Dublin and then New York to win the league served to give Cork national silverware and a platform to finally claim Sam Maguire. A year on, beating Meath in a league game wasn’t going to scratch any itches, but it did sharpen the desire to get over Seán Boylan’s side in the championship.

Larry Tompkins described the post-match reaction in his autobiography, Believe.

“It was Easter Sunday 1990 and Billy Morgan was on his knees, praying to Almighty God,” he wrote.

“However, the resurrection he was seeking was Meath’s supremacy in Leinster.

“We had just been beaten by Seán Boylan’s side in the national league semi-final in Croke Park, 0-14 to 0-10, and it had arguably been an uglier affair than the recent All-Ireland final meetings.

“I was midfield that day, marking Liam Hayes, and Dave Barry, who was centre-forward, was taken out of it at one stage. There was really bad blood between the two teams. You might think it was odd that Billy wanted them to go far that summer, but he was keen for us to have another cut off them.

“Some people said that our 1989 All-Ireland win was devalued because we beat Mayo – those people conveniently forgot that we had to beat Kerry and Dublin, too – and we needed to beat Meath in a final.

“There was a big crowd there, around 30,000 for the double-header. I can remember going into the old dressing rooms, at the corner of the Canal End and the Hogan Stand, and the fans hanging over the wire to meet you and shower a few insults.

“Billy went stone mad in the dressing room. He was always a feisty character but it reached another level day. In the middle of the dressing room, he got down on his knees and prayed to God that Meath would make the final. ‘We’ll be there but, by God, we want that crowd to be there too!’ he roared.”

Incidentally, the day after that – Easter Monday – the Cork hurlers lost a league semi-final replay to Wexford, 1-9 to 0-6 the score in Nowlan Park. Half of the Rebels’ tally came from frees and, with midfielders Pat Buckley and Teddy McCarthy each getting one of the remainder, only Mark Foley of the starting forwards scored from play.

Come September, the same sextet – Ger Fitzgerald, Foley, Tony O’Sullivan, Tomás Mulcahy, Kevin Hennessy and John Fitzgibbon – were present and correct for the All-Ireland final win over Galway, scoring 5-12 of Cork’s 5-15 total.

Proof, if ever it were needed, that league is league and championship is championship. While a Cork win on Sunday would be nice, the major task has been achieved.