Tony Wall Salutes Victory
Tipp won the league again the following year beating Wexford, but were denied a four-in-a-row in the Munster Final by Cork, who were about to embark on another successful period, beating Tipp narrowly in each of the next three Munster finals, as well as the '53 League final. However, the position of the 1949-51 team in Tipperary’s history is secure, as displayed by the fact that when the Tipperary team of the millenium was chosen in 2000, the defence of this team was chosen almost en bloc, plus the brilliant Paddy Kenny, and Mick Ryan of Roscrea who was considered the model centre-forward. Indeed, the Ryans of Roscrea, Mick, Dinny, and Jack, emulated the achievement of the three Kenny brothers of the same years, when winning three All-Ireland senior medals. Tommy Doyle who had been on the brink of retirement before the ’49 championship, returned to win another three medals, collecting five in all, and joining an elite group to have won medals in three different decades.
Further League titles were added in 1954, when a nineteen year old Billy Quinn scored three goals against Kilkenny, and in the following year when Tipp beat a Wexford team which was missing the Rackard brothers due to a family bereavement, but was on the threshold of greatness. The Tipp minors had a great decade in the '50s, winning titles in 1952, and ’53, to which further titles were added in ’55, ’56 and ’57, when Jimmy Doyle and Michael Craddock of Thurles won three All-Ireland medals each on the field of play, which puts them on a pedestal apart in this grade. Another minor title was added in 1959 when Kilkenny were beaten for the fifth time in a decade. Much is made these days about players being lost after minor level fro all sorts of reasons, but it is interesting to note that of Tipp’s seven All-Ireland winning minor teams between 1949 and ’59, only eleven players came through to have what might be described as significant senior careers. No doubt a factor in "losing" players between county minor and county senior, is that a far more complete player is required at the higher level, and competition for places is much stronger, therefore only a handful of players will make the step up successfully. There also was a junior All-Ireland title for Tipp in 1953 when they beat Offaly in the “home” final, before beating Warwickshire in the final proper. Notable members of this team were Theo English from Marlfield, who was to have an illustrious career at senior level, and Mick Kenny who won an All-Ireland senior medal with Kilkenny in 1957.
Despite the constant League successes, and an apparent conveyor belt of young talent senior championship success was hard to come by. Clare had a very good side in the early 1950s, and in the ’55 championship they famously upset the Tipp-Cork order which had enjoyed a duopoly in Munster for the previous six years. First up the Banner beat the defending champions Cork by a point. Cork's exit may have been Tipperary's opportunity, but any such thoughts were abruptly quashed, as Clare repeated the Cork treatment dose for Tipp in the semi-final. This result might - at first glance - be considered a surprise, but when analysed was not quite such a turn-up. Clare had beaten Tipp in a replayed semi-final of the previous year’s Oireachtas tournament, on their way to winning the competition against Wexford in a replay with Clare's full-back, Dan McInerney of Scariff outplaying Nicky Rackard. The real mystery is how this Clare team containing such Banner luminaries as the aforementioned Dan McInerney, Mick Hayes - a brilliant goalkeeper, Haulie Donnellan, Donal O’Grady, Jimmy Smyth, and Matt Nugent could have failed so badly in the blistering heat of the Gaelic Grounds against Limerick.
1956 provided little solace for Tipp at senior level either. The League final was lost to the All-Ireland champions Wexford – on their way to winning every competition they entered that year – when a huge fifteen point lead could not be maintained when Tipp turned to face the storm, and five Wexford goals.
A one point defeat in Limerick was a replica of the previous year’s Munster championship experience – this time it was Cork – and the loss of another big half-time lead brought early reminders of the League final.
1956 also marked the emergence of perhaps the greatest club team ever produced in Tipperary. Between 1956 and 1965, Thurles Sarsfields won 10 out of 11 county championships, the only blip being in the 1960 season when Toomevara beat them comprehensively in the county final, a result avenged the following year. Sarsfields also won 4 minor titles between ’54-’57, plus junior titles (when there was no Intermediate championship at county level) in ’55, ’56 and ’58. Interestingly Sarsfields’ opponents in the senior final of 1957 were Na Piarsaigh which was an amalgamation of junior clubs from the south division. The Na Piarsaigh team though well beaten in the county final at Cashel (4-15 to 4-4), provided 4 players for Tipperary’s All-Ireland senior winning team a year later. I have long been of the view that Tipperary should allow “permanent” amalgamations of Junior and Intermediate clubs to participate at senior level – along the same lines as the Cork baronies such as Avondhu and Imokilly. The Na Piarsaigh example shows that players sometimes realise their potential on a higher stage when playing with a low profile club in a lower grade prevents this, and certainly doesn't raise their profile in selector's eyes. I would suggest that had that South Junior amalgamation not existed and acquitted itself so well in the championship, that we would not have seen all the players in question playing for Tipperary at senior level the following year.
In 1957 yet another League title was won – Kilkenny the eventual All-Ireland champions being the losers – and Cork yet again waited in the long grass in Munster. This was disastrous day for Tipp as in the immediate post-Tony Reddan era they had unfortunate experiences with goalkeepers, with Blackie Keane of Sarsfields being replaced by Kiladangan’s Neddy Moloughney. The score-line was remarkable 5-2 to 1-11, and even though Tipp hit almost twice as many scores as their opponents, the goals – plus a poor forward display – proved their undoing. Two side issues make this game stand out. One is the fact that Jimmy Doyle – perhaps the greatest minor hurler ever – played the last 20 minutes of the minor game before lining out at wing-forward for the senior team. Also it was the day when Justin Nelson took the famous Mackey-Ring photo, when the Cork legend was leaving the pitch with a broken wrist, incurred in a challenge from Mick Maher of Holycross. This caused Ring to miss the subsequent Munster final and a possible second tilt at a ninth All-Ireland medal.
There was a lot of complaints in Tipperary by this stage about the county's pre-eminence in the League being detrimental to their championship ambitions - suggestions of the incompatibility of these competitions is not a modern phenomenon. In 1958, as if to vindicate these views, Tipp didn’t make the League final, having achieved a record by playing in the previous six finals, but finally made the breakthrough in the championship.
For the first round match against the League runners-up Limerick, at the Cork Athletic Grounds, Mick Maher was injured and a championship newcomer in the form of Kieran Carey of Roscrea was drafted in to replace him. Carey played extremely well in Tipp's eight-point win and when Maher returned – in order to retain Carey - it was decided to move John Doyle to wing-back forming a famous half-back-line of Finn-Wall-Doyle on which Tipp built an All-Ireland winning combination. Cork were finally toppled by a two point margin in the semi-final, with a Larry Keane goal, and a vital late save by John O’Grady from Cork’s Liam Dowling being crucial factors. The defending provincial champions, Waterford were absolutely demolished in the Munster Final at Thurles by 4-12 to 1-5. John Doyle gave a man of the match performance and John D. Hickey in the Irish Independent waxed lyrical about the Holycross colossus when he spoke of the ;
“sheer brilliance of the Tipperary half-back-line of Jimmy Finn, Tony Wall, and John Doyle. All three were positively magnificent, and it is no reflection on the prowess of Finn and Wall to say that they were overshadowed by Doyle – the hardihood of the man is astonishing. With an assurance that savoured of contempt, he hurled Mick Flannelly and Larry Guinan in turn into the ground and, as if seeking new worlds to conquer, he tore into other rivals as if he had been starved of hurling for weeks, if not months. Not unnaturally he took a lot of punishment in a contest in which every man comported himself in exemplary manner, but each succeeding weal seemed but to strengthen his resolve to make all his other great games for Tipperary seem but trifling contributions”.
The All-Ireland semi-final was against the defending All-Ireland champions Kilkenny (as Galway got a bye to the final in both ’55 & ’58) and Tipperary won against this opposition yet again. The match - in front of 54, 000 spectators - was played in a downpour. The Munster champions won by 1-13 to 1-8 with Jimmy Doyle matching the Kilkenny score with his personal tally. In Tipperary’s GAA story Seamus King described this contest as the “game of the two Doyles – the dynamic John, and the deadly Jimmy”. The final against Galway attracted only a 47,000 attendance, and the judgement of those who stayed away was vindicated, as Tipp won comfortably by 4-9 to 2-5. A Larry Keane goal after two minutes got Tipp off to a great start, and within five minutes Galway suffered a killer blow when another ball went to the net directly from a Tony Wall ’70. Further goals by Donie Nealon and Liam Devaney before half-time, ensured that the second half was merely a formality. Jimmy Finn, Tony Wall, Mick Maher, John Doyle and Donie Nealon were the primary Tipp stars, with John O’Grady making a number of spectacular saves.
Tipp followed the All-Ireland victory up by winning the National League title of 1959, beating Waterford by eight points in the League Final, and the championship campaign started with a five point win over Limerick at Cork. Between this game and the semi-final Tipperary hurling was dealt a severe blow when an eye injury to Jimmy Finn sustained in a club game for Borris-Ileigh against Roscrea, meant the star defender missed the semi-final against Waterford. However, this also meant the end of Finn’s inter-county career and since Jimmy was just 28 at the time, it arguably cost him three or four All-Ireland medals, not to mention the incalculable loss to the Tipperary team he represented.
When Tipp lined out against Waterford, remarkably a whole seven weeks after the Limerick game, it was expected that the League final form would be repeated. However, Tipp were in for a shock. Electing to play against the gale, Tipp found themselves at sixes and sevens against a terrific Waterford performance. Even allowing for the advantage of the elements in the first half, which presented Tipp with an unassailable deficit, Waterford gave a dazzling display and won by seventeen points. Goalkeeper Terry Moloney was replaced during the hour by Toomevara's Roger Mounsey - the second time in three years that Tipp had taken the unusual step of replacing a goalkeeper during a championship game. Waterford went on to win the All-Ireland title beating Cork, and Kilkenny in the subsequent games.
Further League titles were added in 1954, when a nineteen year old Billy Quinn scored three goals against Kilkenny, and in the following year when Tipp beat a Wexford team which was missing the Rackard brothers due to a family bereavement, but was on the threshold of greatness. The Tipp minors had a great decade in the '50s, winning titles in 1952, and ’53, to which further titles were added in ’55, ’56 and ’57, when Jimmy Doyle and Michael Craddock of Thurles won three All-Ireland medals each on the field of play, which puts them on a pedestal apart in this grade. Another minor title was added in 1959 when Kilkenny were beaten for the fifth time in a decade. Much is made these days about players being lost after minor level fro all sorts of reasons, but it is interesting to note that of Tipp’s seven All-Ireland winning minor teams between 1949 and ’59, only eleven players came through to have what might be described as significant senior careers. No doubt a factor in "losing" players between county minor and county senior, is that a far more complete player is required at the higher level, and competition for places is much stronger, therefore only a handful of players will make the step up successfully. There also was a junior All-Ireland title for Tipp in 1953 when they beat Offaly in the “home” final, before beating Warwickshire in the final proper. Notable members of this team were Theo English from Marlfield, who was to have an illustrious career at senior level, and Mick Kenny who won an All-Ireland senior medal with Kilkenny in 1957.
Despite the constant League successes, and an apparent conveyor belt of young talent senior championship success was hard to come by. Clare had a very good side in the early 1950s, and in the ’55 championship they famously upset the Tipp-Cork order which had enjoyed a duopoly in Munster for the previous six years. First up the Banner beat the defending champions Cork by a point. Cork's exit may have been Tipperary's opportunity, but any such thoughts were abruptly quashed, as Clare repeated the Cork treatment dose for Tipp in the semi-final. This result might - at first glance - be considered a surprise, but when analysed was not quite such a turn-up. Clare had beaten Tipp in a replayed semi-final of the previous year’s Oireachtas tournament, on their way to winning the competition against Wexford in a replay with Clare's full-back, Dan McInerney of Scariff outplaying Nicky Rackard. The real mystery is how this Clare team containing such Banner luminaries as the aforementioned Dan McInerney, Mick Hayes - a brilliant goalkeeper, Haulie Donnellan, Donal O’Grady, Jimmy Smyth, and Matt Nugent could have failed so badly in the blistering heat of the Gaelic Grounds against Limerick.
1956 provided little solace for Tipp at senior level either. The League final was lost to the All-Ireland champions Wexford – on their way to winning every competition they entered that year – when a huge fifteen point lead could not be maintained when Tipp turned to face the storm, and five Wexford goals.
A one point defeat in Limerick was a replica of the previous year’s Munster championship experience – this time it was Cork – and the loss of another big half-time lead brought early reminders of the League final.
1956 also marked the emergence of perhaps the greatest club team ever produced in Tipperary. Between 1956 and 1965, Thurles Sarsfields won 10 out of 11 county championships, the only blip being in the 1960 season when Toomevara beat them comprehensively in the county final, a result avenged the following year. Sarsfields also won 4 minor titles between ’54-’57, plus junior titles (when there was no Intermediate championship at county level) in ’55, ’56 and ’58. Interestingly Sarsfields’ opponents in the senior final of 1957 were Na Piarsaigh which was an amalgamation of junior clubs from the south division. The Na Piarsaigh team though well beaten in the county final at Cashel (4-15 to 4-4), provided 4 players for Tipperary’s All-Ireland senior winning team a year later. I have long been of the view that Tipperary should allow “permanent” amalgamations of Junior and Intermediate clubs to participate at senior level – along the same lines as the Cork baronies such as Avondhu and Imokilly. The Na Piarsaigh example shows that players sometimes realise their potential on a higher stage when playing with a low profile club in a lower grade prevents this, and certainly doesn't raise their profile in selector's eyes. I would suggest that had that South Junior amalgamation not existed and acquitted itself so well in the championship, that we would not have seen all the players in question playing for Tipperary at senior level the following year.
In 1957 yet another League title was won – Kilkenny the eventual All-Ireland champions being the losers – and Cork yet again waited in the long grass in Munster. This was disastrous day for Tipp as in the immediate post-Tony Reddan era they had unfortunate experiences with goalkeepers, with Blackie Keane of Sarsfields being replaced by Kiladangan’s Neddy Moloughney. The score-line was remarkable 5-2 to 1-11, and even though Tipp hit almost twice as many scores as their opponents, the goals – plus a poor forward display – proved their undoing. Two side issues make this game stand out. One is the fact that Jimmy Doyle – perhaps the greatest minor hurler ever – played the last 20 minutes of the minor game before lining out at wing-forward for the senior team. Also it was the day when Justin Nelson took the famous Mackey-Ring photo, when the Cork legend was leaving the pitch with a broken wrist, incurred in a challenge from Mick Maher of Holycross. This caused Ring to miss the subsequent Munster final and a possible second tilt at a ninth All-Ireland medal.
There was a lot of complaints in Tipperary by this stage about the county's pre-eminence in the League being detrimental to their championship ambitions - suggestions of the incompatibility of these competitions is not a modern phenomenon. In 1958, as if to vindicate these views, Tipp didn’t make the League final, having achieved a record by playing in the previous six finals, but finally made the breakthrough in the championship.
For the first round match against the League runners-up Limerick, at the Cork Athletic Grounds, Mick Maher was injured and a championship newcomer in the form of Kieran Carey of Roscrea was drafted in to replace him. Carey played extremely well in Tipp's eight-point win and when Maher returned – in order to retain Carey - it was decided to move John Doyle to wing-back forming a famous half-back-line of Finn-Wall-Doyle on which Tipp built an All-Ireland winning combination. Cork were finally toppled by a two point margin in the semi-final, with a Larry Keane goal, and a vital late save by John O’Grady from Cork’s Liam Dowling being crucial factors. The defending provincial champions, Waterford were absolutely demolished in the Munster Final at Thurles by 4-12 to 1-5. John Doyle gave a man of the match performance and John D. Hickey in the Irish Independent waxed lyrical about the Holycross colossus when he spoke of the ;
“sheer brilliance of the Tipperary half-back-line of Jimmy Finn, Tony Wall, and John Doyle. All three were positively magnificent, and it is no reflection on the prowess of Finn and Wall to say that they were overshadowed by Doyle – the hardihood of the man is astonishing. With an assurance that savoured of contempt, he hurled Mick Flannelly and Larry Guinan in turn into the ground and, as if seeking new worlds to conquer, he tore into other rivals as if he had been starved of hurling for weeks, if not months. Not unnaturally he took a lot of punishment in a contest in which every man comported himself in exemplary manner, but each succeeding weal seemed but to strengthen his resolve to make all his other great games for Tipperary seem but trifling contributions”.
The All-Ireland semi-final was against the defending All-Ireland champions Kilkenny (as Galway got a bye to the final in both ’55 & ’58) and Tipperary won against this opposition yet again. The match - in front of 54, 000 spectators - was played in a downpour. The Munster champions won by 1-13 to 1-8 with Jimmy Doyle matching the Kilkenny score with his personal tally. In Tipperary’s GAA story Seamus King described this contest as the “game of the two Doyles – the dynamic John, and the deadly Jimmy”. The final against Galway attracted only a 47,000 attendance, and the judgement of those who stayed away was vindicated, as Tipp won comfortably by 4-9 to 2-5. A Larry Keane goal after two minutes got Tipp off to a great start, and within five minutes Galway suffered a killer blow when another ball went to the net directly from a Tony Wall ’70. Further goals by Donie Nealon and Liam Devaney before half-time, ensured that the second half was merely a formality. Jimmy Finn, Tony Wall, Mick Maher, John Doyle and Donie Nealon were the primary Tipp stars, with John O’Grady making a number of spectacular saves.
Tipp followed the All-Ireland victory up by winning the National League title of 1959, beating Waterford by eight points in the League Final, and the championship campaign started with a five point win over Limerick at Cork. Between this game and the semi-final Tipperary hurling was dealt a severe blow when an eye injury to Jimmy Finn sustained in a club game for Borris-Ileigh against Roscrea, meant the star defender missed the semi-final against Waterford. However, this also meant the end of Finn’s inter-county career and since Jimmy was just 28 at the time, it arguably cost him three or four All-Ireland medals, not to mention the incalculable loss to the Tipperary team he represented.
When Tipp lined out against Waterford, remarkably a whole seven weeks after the Limerick game, it was expected that the League final form would be repeated. However, Tipp were in for a shock. Electing to play against the gale, Tipp found themselves at sixes and sevens against a terrific Waterford performance. Even allowing for the advantage of the elements in the first half, which presented Tipp with an unassailable deficit, Waterford gave a dazzling display and won by seventeen points. Goalkeeper Terry Moloney was replaced during the hour by Toomevara's Roger Mounsey - the second time in three years that Tipp had taken the unusual step of replacing a goalkeeper during a championship game. Waterford went on to win the All-Ireland title beating Cork, and Kilkenny in the subsequent games.
1958 Program Cover
