1999 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final

Pre-match

Meath had "unquestionably" played more key games at Croke Park in the 1990s than any other Leinster county.

Cork's Seán Óg Ó hAilpín went into the match aiming to emulate Teddy McCarthy's achievement of winning two senior All-Ireland championship medals in the same season.

Match

Summary

Meath won by three points, recovering from the double blow of a penalty miss and the concession of a spectacular Joe Kavanagh goal at the start of the second half to eventually take control and win in style. It was Trevor Giles that missed the penalty. Kevin O'Dwyer, in the Cork goal, saved the penalty which was low to his left. If Giles had scored, Meath would have been two goals clear—Cork counterattacked, scored a point, then a goal.

Cork had almost 60% of the possession and were in control of the game for most of the first half, yet still lost. The average age of the Cork team was just over 23. Trevor Giles scored a crucial 45 eleven minutes from the end; the score put Meath one point ahead. Graham Geraghty captained Meath to victory and raised the Sam Maguire Cup aloft. The manager of the Meath team that day was Seán Boylan. Giles was viewed as "dictating the shape of the large picture like a director of epic movies." The performance of Meath's Mark O'Reilly was also praised.

"Some of the widest wides ever seen in Croke Park this century" occurred during the game.

Details

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Meath

• 1 C. Sullivan
• 2 M. O'Reilly
• 3 D. Fay
• 4 C. Murphy
• 5 P. Reynolds
• 6 E. McManus
• 7 H. Traynor
• 8 N. Crawford
• 9 J. McDermott
• 10 E. Kelly
• 11 T. Giles
• 12 N. Nestor
• 13 O. Murphy
• 14 G. Geraghty (c)
• 15 D. Curtis

;Subs : R. Kealy for Nestor : B. Callaghan for Traynor : T. Dowd for Kelly

;Manager : S. Boylan

Cork

• 1 K. O'Dwyer
• 2 R. McCarthy
• 3 S. Óg Ó hAilpín
• 4 A. Lynch
• 5 C. O'Sullivan
• 6 O. Sexton
• 7 M. Cronin
• 8 N. Murphy
• 9 Micheál O'Sullivan
• 10 M. Ó Cróinín
• 11 J. Kavanagh
• 12 P. O'Mahony
• 13 P. Clifford (c)
• 14 D. Davis
• 15 Mark O'Sullivan

;Subs used : 20 F. Murray for ? : 19 F. Collins for ? : 17 M. O'Donovan for ?

;Subs not used : 16 A. Quirke : 18 M. O'Connor : 21 B. J. O'Sullivan : 22 B. Walsh : 23 A. Dorgan : 24 J. Miskella

;Manager : L. Tompkins

Post-match

Cork player Joe Kavanagh said it was as bad as the 1993 defeat.

Meath's second All-Ireland football title of the decade following their success in 1996, they were joint "team of the decade" for the 1990s with Down who won two titles in 1991 and 1994. Meath footballer Cormac Murphy, who afterwards expressed his relief that he had not retired before the game, said "I don't know. I don't think this achievement will make us team of the nineties. You have Down, you have Cork again, there have been a lot of good teams. Ask me again this time next year."

References

References

1. (27 September 1999). "Brilliant O'Reilly keeps the proud Summerhill link alive". [[Irish Independent]].
2. Keys, Colm. (4 February 2005). "Curley to join referee exodus". [[Irish Independent]].
3. (January 2018). "Masterful Meath in seventh heaven". Irish Examiner.
4. O'Riordan, Ian. (25 September 1999). "Historic final will be Hogan's last stand". The Irish Times.
5. (January 2018). "Boylan sees his battling quarrymasters dig out victory". Irish Examiner.
6. (January 2018). "Ó hAilpín keeps it in perspective". Irish Examiner.
7. O'Sullivan, Jim. (1999). "Meath's crowning glory". Irish Examiner.
8. Mooney, Brendan. (January 2018). "Penalty miss redeemed by crucial points". Irish Examiner.
9. Larkin, Brendan. (January 2018). "Defeat is so hard to bear for O'Dwyer". Irish Examiner.
10. (January 2018). "Boylan sorcery conjures up more Meath magic". Irish Examiner.
11. Davis, Tony. (January 2018). "Rebels forward line not on form". Irish Examiner.
12. (January 2018). "Counihan looks ahead to next year but finds defeat difficult". Irish Examiner.
13. (January 2018). "Royals revelled in tight finish". Irish Examiner.
14. (January 2018). "Captain overcome with emotion as he places daughter in Cup". Irish Examiner.
15. Gallagher, Mark. (January 2018). "High King of Tara celebrates success". Irish Examiner.
16. (January 2018). "Character sees Meath defy destiny and despair". Irish Examiner.
17. Mooney, Brendan. (June 2017). "O'Reilly joins list of great Meath wing backs". Irish Examiner.
18. McConnell, Cormac. (January 2018). "High King of Tara celebrates success". Irish Examiner.
19. Larkin, Brendan. (January 2018). "Gutted Kavanagh says they simply under-achieved". Irish Examiner.
20. (14 September 2009). "Kerry on honour roll". Independent News & Media.
21. (January 2018). "Murphy so glad he didn't retire". Irish Examiner.