Tony Connolly
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish name | Antoin Ó Conghaile | ||
| Sport | Hurling | ||
| Position | Midfield | ||
| Born |
5 April 1941 Blackrock, County Cork, Ireland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
1950s-1963 1964-1968 |
Blackrock St Finbarr's | ||
| Club titles | |||
| Cork titles | 3 | ||
| Munster titles | 1 | ||
| Inter-county(ies) | |||
| Years | County | Apps (scores) | |
1966-1968 | Cork | 7 (1-0) | |
| Inter-county titles | |||
| Munster titles | 1 | ||
| All-Irelands | 1 | ||
| NHL | 0 | ||
Tony Connolly (born 5 April 1941 in Blackrock, County Cork, Ireland) is an Irish former sportsperson. He played hurling with his local clubs Blackrock and St Finbarr's and was a member at senior level of the Cork county team from 1960, interrupted by serious hand injury, returned 1966 until 1968, when six months suspension ended his career.
Playing career
[edit]Club
[edit]Connolly began his club hurling career with the Blackrock club. In 1961 he won his first county senior championship title as 'the Rockies' defeated north Cork divisional side Avondhu by 4-10 to 3-7.[1]
After a dispute with the Blackrock club Connolly left and joined the St Finbarr's club on the southside of Cork city. Here he had even more success, winning a second county title in 1965 following 'the Barr's' 6-8 to 2-5 defeat of UCC. The club later represented Cork in the provincial club series and even reached the final. A 3-12 to 2-3 defeat of Waterford's Mount Sion gave Connolly a Munster club winners' medal.[2]
After St Finbarr's lost the 1967 county final to Glen Rovers, the club recovered to reach the championship decider again the following year. A remarkable 5-9 to 1-9 defeat of divisional side Imokilly gave Connolly a third county championship title.[citation needed]
Inter-county
[edit]Connolly made his return with the Cork senior hurling team in a Munster quarter-final against Clare in 1966.[3] It was the beginning of a return to the big time for 'the Rebels' after a decade in the doldrums. That year Cork qualified for a Munster showdown with Waterford. An entertaining hour of hurling followed, however, victory went to Cork by 4-9 to 2-9 for the first time in ten years. It was Connolly's first senior Munster winners' medal.[4] This victory allowed Cork to advance directly to the All-Ireland final where arch-rivals Kilkenny provided the opposition. It was the first meeting of these two great sides since 1947 and 'the Cats' were installed as the firm favourites. In spite of this a hat-trick of goals by Colm Sheehan gave Cork a merited 3-9 to 1-10 victory over an Eddie Keher-inspired Kilkenny. It was Connolly's first All-Ireland winners' medal.[5]
Cork failed to retain their provincial and All-Ireland titles in 1967 while Tipperary trounced Cork by nine points in the Munster final a year later, a game missed through injury by Connolly. Connolly left the Cork team following this defeat.
References
[edit]- ^ "Senior Hurling Finals 1920 - 1969". Cork GAA site. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
- ^ "Munster Club Hurling Final Winning Teams". Munster GAA. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
- ^ "Cork's Senior Hurling Championship Teams 1960-1969" (PDF). Cork GAA. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
- ^ "Munster Senior Hurling Finals". Munster GAA. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
- ^ "Cork GAA profile". Hogan Stand. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2010.