1990 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final

1990 All-Ireland Senior Football Final

Event	1990 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Cork Meath 0-11 0-9
Date	16 September 1990
Venue	Croke Park, Dublin
Referee	Paddy Russell (Tipperary) [1]
Attendance	65,723
← 1989 1991 →

The 1990 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was a Gaelic football match played at Croke Park on 16 September 1990 to determine the winners of the 1990 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the 104th season of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, a tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association for the champions of the four provinces of Ireland. The final was contested by Cork of Munster and Meath of Leinster, with Cork winning by 0-11 to 0-9. ^{[2] [3]}

For the third time in four years Cork faced Meath in the All-Ireland decider, as the reigning champions did battle with the champions of 1987 and 1988. In the first half Cork had built up a nice lead before there plans were derailed somewhat. A pumped-up Colm O'Neill hit Meath's Mick Lyons and was dismissed from the field of play. In spite of this Cork still held a one-point lead at half-time.

The second half was a dour struggle. Cork's strategy of isolating Meath's extra player worked well as Shay Fahy dominated midfield. The final score of 0-11 to 0-9 gave Cork the title.

Cork's All-Ireland victory was their second in succession, the first and only time in their history that they retained the title. The win gave them their sixth All-Ireland title over all and put them fourth in their own right on the all-time roll of honour.

Meath were appearing in their first All-Ireland final since they triumphed in 1988. Defeat at the hands of Cork was the first of back-to-back All-Ireland defeats for the Royal County.

1990 is regarded as the greatest year in the history of the GAA in Cork. In winning the All-Ireland against Meath, Cork achieved a rare double as the Cork senior hurling team had earlier claimed the All-Ireland title against Galway. ^[4] It also marked the 100th anniversary of Cork achieving their previous double.

Cork's Denis Walsh, as a substitute, and Teddy McCarthy became dual All-Ireland medallists once again; however, McCarthy's achievement was the most spectacular of all. As a member of the starting fifteen in both codes he became the first player in the history of the Gaelic Athletic Association to win All-Ireland medals in both codes in the same season. It is a record which still stands.

The referee played 9 seconds of additional time. ^[5]

Match

Details

16 September 1990

15:15 IST

Cork	0-11 - 0-9	Meath
S. Fahy (0-4), L. Tompkins (0-4), M. McCarthy (0-2), P. McGrath (0-1).	Report	B. Stafford (0-6), B. Flynn (0-1), C. Coyle (0-1), D. Beggy (0-1).

Croke Park, Dublin

Attendance: 65,723

Referee: P Russell (Tipperary)

Cork

Meath

References

1. Russell, Adrian (16 September 2020). "The Double 30 years on: 'When Paddy Russell blew the whistle, the roar was ferocious'". Irish Examiner .
2. Lyons, Tom (18 August 2007). "Cork v Meath here we go again !". The Southern Star. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
3. "Cork v Meath: Latest chapter in an old rivalry". Irish Independent. 15 August 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
4. "The Double 30 years on - Part 1: 'Sometimes you had to be a little bit nasty'". Irish Examiner. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
5. Moran, Seán (11 September 2019). "Will time be on Dublin's side once more?". The Irish Times . Retrieved 11 September 2019. If referee David Gough had played as little injury-time as his predecessor PJ McGrath in the 1982 final, Dean Rock would never have had the opportunity to equalise in the 74th minute. McGrath added just 35 seconds of additional time and this was not simply because there were fewer stoppages – it was common practice. Randomly chosen finals – at five-year intervals – in the decades that followed indicate that as little as nine seconds in 1990 and 40 seconds in 2000 (drawn match) were added on for injury-time in those football All-Irelands.