1957 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final

1957 All-Ireland Senior Football Final
Event	1957 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Date	22 September 1957
Venue	Croke Park, Dublin
Referee	P Geraghty (Galway)
Attendance	72,732
	← 1956 1958 →

The 1957 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was a Gaelic football match played at Croke Park on 22 September 1957 to determine the winners of the 1957 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the 71st season of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, a tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association for the champions of the four provinces of Ireland. The final was contested by Cork of Munster and Louth of Leinster, with Louth winning by 1-9 to 1-7.^[1]

The All-Ireland final between Cork and Louth was a unique occasion as it was the first ever championship meeting between the two teams. Similarly, the game was billed as a David and Goliath battle as it pitted Ireland's biggest county against Ireland's smallest county.

In the first half it was the Louth team who had the balance of play in the early stages. They built up a lead of 0-5 to 0-3 after just twenty minutes. Shortly after, Cork took the lead when beat the advancing Louth goalkeeper to a centre from Nealie Duggan and punched to the net. Niall FitzGerald added a point before the interval.

On resuming Denis "Toots" Kelleher extended Cork's lead with another rpoint and it looked as if the Rebels were on their way. Louth again took up the running and scored four point in succession to regain the lead with ten minutes remaining. A carelessly conceded line ball glanced off a defender's hand over the goal line while he was being fouled to give Louth the lead. Despite frantic efforts by Cork they couldn't claw back Louth's lead. Twice it seemed a goal was imminent, however, Louth held on for their two-point victory.

Louth's All-Ireland victory was their first since 1912. The win gave them their third All-Ireland title over all and put them joint eighth on the all-time roll of honour along with Mayo and Cork. It remains their last All-Ireland final appearance.

Cork's All-Ireland defeat was their second in succession after losing to Galway in 1956. It was their ninth All-Ireland final defeat in total.

Due to the identical nature of the colour of their jerseys a change was necessary. Louth wore the green of Leinster while Cork wore the blue of Munster.