 | |||||||
| Event | 1988 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 18 September 1988 | ||||||
| Venue | Croke Park,Dublin | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Larry Tompkins | ||||||
| Referee | Tommy Sugrue (Kerry)[1] | ||||||
| Attendance | 65,000 | ||||||
←1987 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Date | 9 October 1988 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Croke Park,Dublin | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Martin O'Connell[2] | ||||||
| Referee | Tommy Sugrue (Kerry) | ||||||
| Attendance | 64,069 | ||||||
1989 → | |||||||
The1988 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 101st All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the1988 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-countyGaelic football tournament for the top teams inIreland.
Cork scored a goal three minutes in andBrian Stafford scored a controversial equaliser[contradictory][3]
David Beggy brought the sides level to force a replay.[4]
| 18 September 1988Final | Meath | 0–12 – 1–9 | Cork | Croke Park,Dublin |
| B Stafford 0–8, C O'Rourke 0–4. | L Tompkins 0–8, T McCarthy 1–0, M McCarthy 0–1. | Attendance: 65,898 Referee:Tommy Sugrue (Kerry) |
Meath'sGerry McEntee was sent off in the seventh minute of the replay.[5] He was guilty of strikingNiall Cahalane.[5]
The match was dominated by Meath's aggressive play.[6]
According to Colm Keys, the replay was "one of the most brutal finals" due to Meath's style of play.[6]
Meath won the replay by a point.[3]Colm O'Rourke scored Meath's last point — which proved to be the winning score, when Cork began to close in on Meath towards the end.[2]
In 2018,Martin Breheny listed the replay as the tenth greatest All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final.[5]
| 9 October 1988Final replay | Meath | 0–13 – 0–12 | Cork | Croke Park,Dublin |
| B Stafford 0–7, C O'Rourke 0–3, B Flynn 0–1, D Beggy 0–1, J Cassells 0–1. | L Tompkins 0–8, B Coffey 0–2, D Allen 0–1, D Barry 0–1. | Attendance: 64,069 Referee:Tommy Sugrue (Kerry) |
He [Dr Con Murphy] reminded me that far worse than anything this year [2019] was when they got a Kerryman — Tommy Sugrue — to ref the 1988 All-Ireland final between Cork and Meath.
In 1996, Colm Coyle and Liam McHale was ushered to the line following a mass brawl while in '88 Gerry McEntee was sent off early... Brendan O'Reilly lofted over the winner in 1996 and eight years previous it was a Colm O'Rourke point that gave Meath the cushion before Cork's late fight-back... Michael Fitzsimons (2016), Seamus Moynihan (2000) and Martin O'Connell (1988). Tommy Dowd was given the 1996 award but the honour has become the preserve of the defender.
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... Twice, Meath came from behind to equalise (David Beggy 1988), Colm Coyle (1996) to win replays against Cork and Mayo.
