History of The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship - 1976 To 1978 - A Rebel Three-in-a-row

A Rebel Three-in-a-row

While Kilkenny dominated the early 1970s, the second part of the decade belonged to Cork. 1976 saw Cork win a second consecutive Munster title, allowing the team to advance directly to the All-Ireland final where Wexford provided the opposition. Both sides had high expectations. Cork got off to the worst possible start in an All-Ireland final and trailed by 2-2 after six minutes. 'The Rebels' battled back, however, the game hung in the balance for much of the seventy. With ten minutes left Wexford were two points to the good, however, three points by Jimmy Barry-Murphy, two by Pat Moylan and a kicked effort from captain Ray Cummins gave Cork a merited 2-21 to 4-11 victory.

In 1977 Cork cruised through the provincial campaign again and, following a defeat of Galway in the semi-final, the men in red booked their place in a second consecutive All-Ireland final showdown with Wexford. Like the previous year the game turned into a close, exciting affair. A Seánie O'Leary goal, together with some brilliant saves by goalkeeper Martin Coleman helped Cork to a 1-17 to 3-8 victory.

1978 saw Cork sneak a narrow 0-13 to 0-11 win over Clare in the Munster final, paving the way for 'the Rebels' to take on Kilkenny in the subsequent All-Ireland final. The stakes were high as Cork were attempting to capture a first three in-a-row since 1954. The game, however, was not the classic that many expected. Cork were never really troubled over the course of the seventy minutes. With thirteen minutes left Jimmy Barry-Murphy hit a low shot in towards the goal and it bounced in past goalkeeper Noel Skehan. Commentator Michael O'Hehir summed up the significance of the goal by saying:

The goal turned out to be the deciding factor as Cork went on to win the game and a third All-Ireland title in-a-row.