Cork–Wexford hurling rivalry

On 5 September 1954 a record crowd of 84,856 packed Croke Park to see the first championship clash of Cork and Wexford in over half a century. Cork scored the opening point after just two minutes, while Christy Ring kept the scoreboard ticking over with some fine points. A palmed goal by Tom Ryan and a series of points from Nicky Rackard had Wexford ahead by 1-3 to 0-5 at the interval. With a strong breeze in their favour in the second half, Cork looked in a very strong position. Nicky Rackard had switched from full-forward to centre -forward to curb the long clearances of Vincy Twomey. By the tenth minute points from Tim Flood and Paddy Kehoe had Wexford 1-6 to 0-5 ahead. Ring and Twomey points cut the deficit to two and with four minutes left young Johnny Clifford trapped the ball on the end line, dribbled it along the ground and shot past Art Foley from a narrow angle. Injury-time points gave Cork a 1-9 to 1-6 victory and a third successive All-Ireland crown.[2]

Two years later on 23 September 1956, Cork and Wexford, the two All-Ireland champions of the previous two years, faced each other in the decider once again. Wexford got off to a great start and had a 1-1 to no score lead after just three minutes courtesy of Tim Flood and Padge Kehoe. Cork regrouped but still trailed by 1-6 to 0-5 at the interval. Wexford stretched their lead to seven points in the second half before a Christy Ring goal from a free, followed shortly by a point, had Cork back in the game and trailing by three. Paddy Barry got Cork's second goal while a Ring point gave the Rebels a one-point lead. Wexford then scored three points on the spin. In the dying moments of the game and Wexford holding onto that two-point lead, the sliotar broke to Christy Ring and he headed straight for goal with the Wexford back line in pursuit. When he got to the 21-yard line he let off a shot that was set to rattle the back of the net, but the shot was somehow blocked by goalkeeper Art Foley and then cleared.[3][4] Within a minute the sliotar dropped into Foley again and after it was cleared it made its way up the pitch and was buried in the back of the Cork net by Nicky Rackard giving Wexford a 2-14 to 2-8 victory.[5][6] In spite of Cork's defeat, Wexford's Nick O'Donnell and Bobby Rackard, in an unparalleled display of sportsmanship in any game, raised Cork's Christy Ring onto their shoulders and carried him off the field. Wexford had won the game but there was no doubt in their minds that the real hero was Ring.

On 6 September 1970 Cork and Wexford faced each other in the first 80-minute All-Ireland final. Wexford took the lead in the fifth minute when a goal resulted from a melee of confusion in the parallelogram. Wexford's lead only lasted five minutes as Cork powered on when Eddie O'Brien flicked the sliotar overhead to the net for Cork's first goal in the eleventh minute. He got his second in the 34th minute when he deflected a Willie Walsh shot to the net. O'Brien completed his hat-trick in the 33rd minute of the second half when he soloed through the Wexford defence before fisting home another goal for Cork. Wexford's hopes of a comeback came to nothing as Cork powered to a 6-20 to 5-11 victory.[7]

After emerging from their respective provinces, Cork and Wexford faced each other in the All-Ireland decider again on 5 September 1976. Cork got off to one of the worst ever starts in a decider, when two goals from Martin Quigley left them trailing by 2-2 to no score after just six minutes. Cork fought back through the brilliance of Pat Moylan's long-range free-taking, while a Ray Cummins goal brought the sides level at the interval. Wexford started brighter with a Tony Doran goal restoring their lead once again, however, Cork went looking for their own goal. An opportunistic first-time pull by Charlie McCarthy found its way to the net and gave Cork a one-point lead. Cork 'keeper Martin Coleman brought off some marvelous saves to deny the Wexford forwards on a number of occasions and to secure a 2-21 to 4-11 victory for Cork.[8]

The second successive meeting of Cork and Wexford in the All-Ireland decider on 4 September 1977 failed to live up to the expectations of the previous year. Cork's preparations were hampered during a pre-match warm-up in front of Hill 16 when Seánie O'Leary got hit in the face with a sliotar, suffering a broken nose.[9] He missed the parade before the game due to his injury but played for the full seventy minutes, being described throughout the game by RTÉ commentator Michael O'Hehir as "the man who nearly didn't play." In spite of this injury O'Leary scored the decisive goal for Cork as the game entered the last quarter. Goalkeeper Martin Coleman came to the rescue for Cork once again when Wexford rallied. Christy Keogh sent a thundering shot at goal and it looked like the certain equaliser, only for Coleman to reach for it and leave those in attendance confident they had witnessed one of the greatest saves in an All-Ireland final. A 1–17 to 3–8 victory gave Cork their second title as part of a famous three-in-a-row.[10]

After a 26-year absence, Cork and Wexford renewed their rivalry in the All-Ireland semi-final on 10 August 2003. Played in brilliant sunshine, the match opened at a blistering place, with Joe Deane pucking over the first score before a Paul Codd goal for Wexford in the sixth minute. The frenetic opening pace began to slow half way through the first half but the quality of Wexford's play did not dip at all and the Model County led by 1-11 to 0-10 at the interval. Wexford stretched the lead to six points early on, however, Cork began to fight back with a goal from Setanta Ó hAilpín helping their cause. On 56 minutes Deane got his eighth score when, after a scramble in the Wexford square, he found space to knock in Cork’s second goal. Wexford looked in trouble but their nerve held and goalkeeper Damien Fitzhenry drove straight down the other end. Larry Murphy collected and passed to Mitch Jordan, who drove it straight to the back of the net to leave the score 2-17 to 2-15. Both sides traded points but, with less than two minutes to go, Cork notched unanswered points and looked the likely victors, however, Fitzhenry's puck-out after Alan Browne's point went the length of the pitch and fell to Rory McCarthy who drilled it to the back of the net to level the match at 3-17 to 2-20 with the very last puck of the game in the most dramatic manner possible.[11]

The replay a week later on 16 August 2003 showed early signs that it may live up to the frenetic pace of the drawn encounter. After John Gardner and Niall McCarthy had given Cork an early two point lead, Wexford's Mitch Jordan pounced on some uncertainty in the Cork defence and cheekily flicked the sliotar past Donal Óg Cusack in the Cork net for the opening goal of the game. A long puck out from Damien Fitzhenry was met by more shaky Cork defending, and as the ball broke loose about 20 yards out, it was hit first time by Larry Murphy whose shot was too hard for Cusack to stop. Unfazed, Cork stuck to their game plan and were back in the game when Alan Browne struck low, through a forest of legs, and across the goal past Fitzhenry. The goal count was brought level soon afterwards when Timmy McCarthy latched onto an Alan Browne hand pass. Wexford trailed by 2-8 to 2-3 at the interval, however, as Diarmuid O'Sullivan and Seán Óg Ó hAilpín shored up the defence, Cork went on to win the second half by 1-9 to 0-4.[12]

For the third time in two seasons, Cork and Wexford faced off in an All-Ireland semi-final on 15 August 2004. This time it was a similar story as Wexford were no match for the firepower of Cork's forward line. Ben and Jerry O'Connor were in sparkling form as between them the brothers contributed 14 points. Tom Kenny scored a spectacular goal in the 29th minute which signalled the end of Wexford's challenge as they went into the interval trailing 1-13 to 0-4. Cork continued to fire over points from all angles at ease as they booked their place in the decider against Kilkenny for the second year running.[13]

On 14 July 2012 Cork and Wexford faced off in a do-or-die qualifier meeting at Semple Stadium. The game started with a welter of goals, Luke O'Farrell’s early effort for Cork was immediately matched by Diarmuid Lyng, but O’Farrell continued to impress, scoring his second goal before earning a penalty that was emphatically despatched by goalkeeper Anthony Nash. Still Wexford continued to pose a threat through Rory Jacob and Lyng landed a couple of sideline cuts – one of which was scarcely credible – to cut the half-time deficit to 3-7 to 1-11. Cork had the breeze on the resumption though and gradually took control of the game, and with Patrick Horgan and Niall McCarthy in form they pulled away. Garrett Sinnott pulled a goal back for Wexford but the score – along with the late dismissal of Wexford’s David Redmond – had little influence on the game which Cork won by 3-24 to 2-17.[14]

Three years later on 4 July 2015, Cork and Wexford met in yet another do-or-die qualifier. The Rebels dominated the opening exchanges and had three points on the scoreboard before Wexford’s Ian Byrne landed a free on four minutes to get the home side off the mark. Goals by Conor Lehane and Séamus Harnedy helped Cork to a fourteen-point half-time lead. The Model County landed the next eight scores in a row to pull the deficit back to six points. Cork only managed five points in the second half, however, it was Lehane's two scores at a vital time which helped Cork to a 2-22 to 0-20 victory.[15]

• Biggest championship win:
  • For Cork: Cork 1-27 - 0-12, All-Ireland semi-final, Croke Park, 15 August 2004
  • For Wexford: Wexford 2-14 - 2-8 Cork, All-Ireland final, Fraher Field, 23 September 1956
• Highest aggregate:
  • Cork 6-21 - 5-10 Wexford, All-Ireland final, Croke Park, 6 September 1970

• Top scorer in a single game:
  • For Cork: 1-9
    • Charlie McCarthy, Cork 6-21 - 5-10 Wexford, All-Ireland final, Croke Park, 6 September 1970
  • For Wexford: 0-13
    • Conor McDonald, Wexford 0-23 - 1-17 Cork, All-Ireland qualifier, Semple Stadium, 9 July 2016

• Highest attendance:
  • 84,856 - Cork 1-9 - 1-6 Wexford, All-Ireland final, Croke Park, 23 September 1956
• Lowest attendance:
  • 20,142 - Cork 3-24 - 2-17 Wexford, All-Ireland qualifier, Semple Stadium, 14 July 2012