1952 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final

1952 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final

Event	1952 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Cavan Meath 2–4 (10) 1–7 (10)
Date	28 September 1952
Venue	Croke Park, Dublin
Referee	Sean Hayes (Tipperary)
Attendance	64,200
← 1951

1952 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final replay

Cavan Meath 0–9 0–5
Date	12 October 1952
Venue	Croke Park, Dublin
Referee	Sean Hayes (Tipperary)
Attendance	62,515
1953 →

The 1952 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 65th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1952 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland.

Mick Higgins was Cavan's captain on the day. ^[1]

Match 1

Summary

Cavan equalised with a strange point — Edwin Carolan chased a ball that seemed to go wide, and kicked it across the goalmouth and over the bar. ^[2] Carolan's equaliser has been described as a "wonder score". ^[3]

Details

28 September 1952
Final

Cavan	2–4 – 1–7	Meath
T Tighe & J J Cassidy (1–0), M Higgins, V Sherlock, P Fitsmons & E Carolan (0–1) each		P Meegan (0–4), P McDermott (1–1), J Reilly & McDonnell (0–1) each

Croke Park, Dublin

Attendance: 64,200

Referee: Sean Hayes (Tipperary)

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Match 2

Summary

Mick Higgins's five points won the replay for Cavan, while Peter McDermott (Meath) missed an easy goal chance. ^[2]

Details

12 October 1952
Final replay

Cavan	0–9 – 0–5	Meath
M Higgins (0–7), T Tighe & J Cusack (0–1) each		P McDermott (0–2), J Reilly, M McDonnell & D Taaffe (0–1) each

Croke Park, Dublin

Attendance: 62,515

Referee: Sean Hayes (Tipperary)

Meath

• 1 Kevin Smyth
• 2 Micheál O'Brien
• 3 Paddy O'Brien
• 4 Kevin McConnell
• 5 T. O'Brien
• 6 Connie Kelly
• 7 Christo Hand
• 8 Brendan Maguire
• 9 Des Taaffe
• 10 Declan Brennan
• 11 Brian Smyth
• 12 Paddy Meegan (c)
• 13 Mattie McDonnell
• 14 Jim Reilly
• 15 Peter McDermott

Played in drawn game

Patsy McGearty

Paddy Connell

Trainer

Patrick Tully

Post-match

Cavan never appeared in an All-Ireland SFC final again. ^[1]

References

1. "Cavan GAA legend Mick Higgins dies at the age of 87". BBC Sport . BBC. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
2. High Ball magazine, issue #6, 1998.
3. Keys, Colm (13 September 2019). "Scoring the equaliser proves great leveller". Irish Independent . Independent News & Media . Retrieved 13 September 2019. Does it present any advantage in an All-Ireland final replay to have scored the equaliser in the drawn game? A look back on the last six drawn football finals shows honours even in that regard... In 1972, Mick O'Dwyer's leveller was in vain when Kerry lost the replay heavily to Offaly while Edwin Carolan's 'wonder score, in the 1952 drawn All-Ireland final for Cavan, paved the way for the last of their five successes in the subsequent replay over Meath.