Cork's Alan Connolly must defy mixed omens for semi-final hat-trick heroes

Irish Times

07-07-2025

'Around the 25th, 26th minute, Dublin started to claw back a little bit, they started to get a little bit of a foothold,' said RTÉ's Damian Lawlor in his post-match interview with Alan Connolly on Saturday. 'How did ye guys reset?'
'Eh . . . I don't know really. We just scored a goal, like, that was about it,' came Connolly's slightly comic response.
The Blackrock man, who bagged his fourth senior hat-trick in two seasons and brought his career tally to 24 senior goals, managed 3-2 from six shots on Saturday. His previous SHC hat-trick was against Tipperary last year; on that occasion, he scored 3-1 from five shots.
Cork supporters are understandably on 'high doh', with the Rebels favourites to end a 20-year wait for the Liam MacCarthy. But what are the omens like for semi-final hat-trick heroes? Mixed.
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The last player to manage the feat was Tipperary's Lar Corbett in the 2009 semi-final against Limerick, but the Premier subsequently lost the final to Kilkenny.
Prior to that, Niall Healy of Galway hit three majors in the 2005 semi-final win over Kilkenny, but they would lose the final, of course, to Cork.
Jimmy Barry-Murphy hit 3-1 against Antrim at the penultimate stage in 1986, and did get his hands on a Celtic Cross after a final win over Galway. Nicky Rackard managed it twice – 1956 against Galway and 1954 versus Antrim, winning one of those finals.
Minor triumph means Tyrone's treble is still on
When Johnny Mulvihill pulled off a spectacular catch and played Jack O'Shea in for an excellent goal 10 minutes into the second half of the 1975 All-Ireland minor championship final, Kerry led Tyrone by 1-6 to 0-1 and were well on their way to a historic treble.
Later that afternoon, the Kingdom defeated Dublin to claim Sam Maguire, and a fortnight later, the hat-trick was complete when they annexed the Under-21 crown, again seeing off the Dubs. It was a historic achievement which has never been equalled since – but, as flagged by The Schemozzle a while back and by GAA president Jarlath Burns in his speech on Sunday in Newbridge, it's on this year.
It felt like there was something serendipitous about Kerry and Tyrone meeting in Sunday's minor final, with it marking the 50th anniversary of that unprecedented treble. The Red Hands have already won the Under-20 All-Ireland (beating the Kingdom in the semi-final), and the two will meet in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final this weekend.
Since that minor final in 1975, Kerry and Tyrone have met in eight All-Ireland finals across the three grades; the Red Hands have won six.
Clubbable Tipp find strength in diversity
Unusually, there were players from 14 different clubs named in Tipperary's starting team on Sunday, although a late change meant that only 13 clubs were represented on the actual starting 15. That's still quite a spread, however, with the 26-man panel drawn from a total of 17 clubs.
For context, Kilkenny's starting 15 came from eight different clubs, with eight players (four each) from O'Loughlin Gaels and Ballyhale Shamrocks alone. Thirteen clubs were represented on the Cats' matchday squad.
Of the four hurling semi-finalists, the Dublin squad was drawn from the fewest number of clubs (13), with nine different clubs represented on their starting team.
Cork, in contrast, had panellists from 16 clubs, including 10 starters. The club with the most players involved in the All-Ireland semi-finals, for the record, was, unsurprisingly, Na Fianna, the All-Ireland club champions who supplied half a dozen players to the Dublin panel.
In Mayo football, what's in a name?
Two of the Mayo senior footballers have got engaged recently, as reported in the local press. This prompted a humorous typo in the Western People, which didn't do much to assuage the general sense that the county is football-obsessed.
'Congratulations are extended to two Mayo GAA players on recent engagements,' noted the long-established weekly, which is based in Ballina. 'Matthew Ruane recently announced his engagement to Mayo (sic) Mannion while Paddy Durcan also proposed to his partner, Alannah McBrien.'
Ms Mannion's first name is, in fact, Moya.
Speaking of Ballina, one of the town's most famous sons, Liam McHale, has stepped down from his role in charge of the Mayo senior ladies footballers. They defeated last year's intermediate All-Ireland winners Leitrim by 2-14 to 0-13 in Saturday's relegation playoff.
Quote, unquote
'Some of them have never even been in Croke Park, let alone played up here.' – Tipperary veteran
Noel McGrath
, speaking after the match about his young team-mates.
Number of the week: 1/30
Kilkenny's record in terms of All-Ireland titles at minor, under-20/under-21 and senior from 2016 to 2025 inclusive. The outlier was the 2022 Under-20 All-Ireland championship.