The 1950 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 63rd All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the

1950 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The 1950 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 64th staging of Ireland's premier Gaelic football knock-out competition. In the Leinster final Louth ended Meath's spell as All Ireland champions. Mayo won their second All-Ireland. R ...

, an inter-county

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

tournament for the top teams in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, between Mayo and

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia ** Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

. The referee for the 1950 final was Simon Deignan, who played for

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road (Ireland), N3 road that links Dublin ( ...

in the

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

and

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

finals. This was the first of two consecutive All-Ireland football titles won by Mayo. They have not won an All-Ireland football title since

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

. The attendance of 76,174 was the third highest on record in a final at that time.

Match

First half

Mayo won the toss and elected to play against the wind in the first half. Nicky Roe put Louth ahead within the first minute. Mayo responded through

Éamonn Mongey Éamonn Mongey (1925 – 23 September 2007) was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played as a midfielder and as a centre-back at senior level for the Mayo county team. A native of Castlebar, Mongey's family was steeped in the GAA. His father was ...

and took the lead when a well-placed shot by forward Peter Solan beat the Louth goalkeeper Thornton. Mayo were forced into making a substitution with Billy Kenny being withdrawn following a collision with Louth midfielder Frank Reid. They increased their lead however with successive points from Mick Mulderrig and Joe Gilvarry. Nicky Roe then goaled for Louth who raised another white flag with a fisted point from wing-forward

Jimmy McDonnell James McDonnell (1927 – 30 September 2017) was an Irish Gaelic football Manager (Gaelic games), manager, selector and player. His National Football League (Ireland), league and All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, championship career with ...

. Mayo then replaced their starting goalkeeper Durkin with Seán Wynne. Nicky Roe kicked a free and scored the last point of the half on 32 minutes, to leave Louth a point in front at the interval.

Second Half

Roe continued where he had left off by pointing a free early on. Louth corner-forward Mickey Reynolds subsequently had an excellent goal chance but shot over the bar with the Mayo keeper Wynne beaten. With the wind now more of a factor, Mayo replied with another point from the outstanding

. His midfield partner

Pádraig Carney Pádraig Carney (1928 – 9 June 2019) was a Gaelic footballer who played as a centre-forward for the senior Mayo county football team, Mayo county team. He was one of the last two living players from the winning 1951 Mayo team, the other ...

spurned two scoreable opportunities before the prolific Nicky Roe restored Louth's two-point lead. Louth's cause was not helped with Roe having to leave the field due to injury and with five minutes remaining came the key moment of the match. Mayo snatched a freak goal after

Seán Flanagan Seán Flanagan (26 January 1922 – 5 February 1993) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and Gaelic footballer who served as Minister for Health from 1966 to 1969, Minister for Lands from 1969 to 1973 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minis ...

charged down a Seán Boyle clearance. Mick Flanagan took up possession and fisted to the Louth net after a twenty-yard run. Mayo, finishing the stronger of the two sides, added a further point through Mick Mulderrig to lead by two (2-5 to 1–6) as full-time approached and there would be no response from the Wee County men.

Details

References

{{Louth county football team matches All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, 1950 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship finals GAA finals at Croke Park

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Finals All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

Louth county football team matches Mayo county football team matches