Dublin take on Kerry in what should be a mouth watering All-Ireland senior football championship final. The third Sunday in September were great days for Meath football in the eighties and  nineties. Like the 18th of September 1988 as Meath took on bitter rivals Cork to decide the destination of the Sam Maguire Cup.

An extract from Royal County Meath GAA Yearbook 1988

"Cork are tragic, Meath are magic" the school kids chanted in the lead up to the big one. During the weeks prior interest and colour was not of the same fever pitch as in '87 but then around Thursday it clicked. The flags and bunting came out and nothing mattered but the match. Would Tomkins last the hour? Team selection is no surprise. Perhaps there was room for Coyle. Conditions on the day are near perfect. Cork support got to the Canal while the Meath hordes pack the Hill a la '87. The Kerry minors set events rolling and surprise the more physical Dubs. Could this be another fine team in the making?
    
Again Meath settle slowly. Too slow. Allen picks McCarthy out with a cross field ball and the Meath net rocks. Cork press again but the Royal County steady. O'Rourke and Beggy link up well and cause problems for the Munster XV. Harnan never gives Tomkins a smell of the ball. O'Rourke from play and Stafford from placed balls point the way. McEntee and Hayes rule the roost at mid-field. Meath go in ahead. The breeze to come. Everything looks rosy.
    
But Morgan and his boys think otherwise. A number of switches. Tomkins comes to midfield - escaping the clutches of Harnan. Allen and Barry forge deep for possession. Cork start to move the ball wide down the flanks. Tomkins hamstring and all has the freedom of Croke Park. He picks off a number of glorious points. Gerry suffers an injury in a collision with Fahy and the big Lily White starts to turn the midfield screws. McGrath now at  right full has Padraig Lyons for pace. Cork equalise; go in front and go further in front. Gillic is brought out to counteract Tomkins. It woks to a certain degree. Meath grit their teeth and a heroic fightback commences. Then those final nerve wrecking moments.

Meath 0-12 Cork 1-9

Meath scorers: Brian Stafford 0-8, Colm O'Rourke 0-4

Meath: Michael McQuillan, Bob O'Malley, Mick Lyons, Padraig Lyons, Kevin Foley, Liam Harnan, Martin O'Connell, Liam Hayes, Gerry McEntee, David Beggy, PJ Gillic, Mattie McCabe, Colm O'Rourke, Brian Stafford, Bernard Flynn. Subs: Colm Coyle, Terry Ferguson, Joe Cassells

Tweet

Most Read Stories