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. Re ...

, an inter-county

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

tournament for the top teams in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, between

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

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 * County ...

. The referee for the 1950 final was

Simon Deignan Simon Deignan (1922 – September 2006) was a former Gaelic footballer for the Cavan county team, and a referee. Family His grandnephew is the Dublin footballer Jonny Cooper. Playing career A native of Mullagh. Deignan won an All-Ireland Mino ...

, who played for

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

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 in ...

and

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

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 United ...

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

Match

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 Michael G. Mulderrig (1931 – 4 June 2013) was an Irish Gaelic footballer. He played for club side Ballina Stephenites and also lined out at inter-county level with the Mayo senior football team. Honours ;Mayo * All-Ireland Senior Football ...

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, selector and player. His league and championship career with the Louth senior team spanned three decades from 1948 until 1960. Born in Darver, County Louth, Mc ...

. 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 team. He was one of the last two living players from the winning 1951 Mayo team, the other being Paddy Prendergast. C ...

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 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 on a further point through

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

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References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, 1950 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Finals All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Finals Louth county football team matches Mayo county football team matches