1988 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final

The 1988 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 101st All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1988 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland.

1988 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final

Event	1988 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Meath Cork 0–12 (12) 1–9 (12)
Date	18 September 1988
Venue	Croke Park, Dublin
Man of the Match	Larry Tompkins
Referee	Tommy Sugrue (Kerry)[1]
Attendance	65,000
← 1987

1988 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final replay

Meath Cork 0–13 0–12
Date	9 October 1988
Venue	Croke Park, Dublin
Man of the Match	Martin O'Connell[2]
Referee	Tommy Sugrue (Kerry)
Attendance	64,069
1989 →

Match 1

Summary

Cork scored a goal three minutes in and Brian Stafford scored a controversial equaliser^{[contradictory][3]}

David Beggy brought the sides level to force a replay.^[4]

Details

Meath v Cork

18 September 1988 Final	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)

Match 2

Summary

Meath's Gerry McEntee was sent off in the seventh minute of the replay.^[5] He was guilty of striking Niall 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]

Details

Meath v Cork

9 October 1988 Final 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)

Meath (is this the replay or the drawn game?)

• 1 M. McQuillan
• 2 R. O'Malley
• 3 M. Lyons
• 4 T. Ferguson
• 5 C. Coyle
• 6 L. Harnan
• 7 M. O'Connell
• 8 L. Hayes
• 9 G. McEntee
• 10 D. Beggy
• 11 J. Cassells (c)
• 12 P. J. Gillic
• 13 C. O'Rourke
• 14 B. Stafford
• 15 B. Flynn

Sub used

19 M. McCabe

Subs not used

16 S. Smyth

17 P. Lyons

18 F. Murtagh

20 F. Foley

21 K. Foley

Manager

S. Boylan

Cork (is this the replay or the drawn game?)

• 1 J. Kerins
• 2 N. Cahalane
• 3 C. Corrigan
• 4 S. O'Brien
• 5 T. Davis
• 6 C. Counihan
• 7 T. Nation (c)
• 8 S. Fahy
• 9 T. McCarthy
• 10 P. McGrath
• 11 L. Tompkins
• 12 B. Coffey
• 13 D. Allen
• 14 D. Barry
• 15 M. McCarthy

Subs used

20 C. O'Neill for M. McCarthy

21 J. O'Driscoll for P. McGrath

Subs not used

16 M. Maguire

17 D. Walsh

18 M. Burns

19 D. Culloty

22 J. Cleary

23 J. Kerrigan

24 M. Slocum

Manager

B. Morgan