KILKENNY 3-22 LONDON 1-10 CROKE PARK, ATT: 5,000
1969 ALL-IRELAND SHC SEMI-FINAL
Frank Sheehan, the Cavan man who was chairman of the London board, accepted afterwards that the Exiles would probably opt out of the senior championship if they got another couple of bad beatings but hoped that Croke Park would allow teams from Munster and Leinster to travel to Britain in the coming years to give London challenge matches.
Challenge games mattered little. The following year, Cork beat them by 17 points in the semifinal. In 1971, Kilkenny beat them by 15 and in 1972, Cork hit them for 7-20, forcing the GAA into rejigging the Championship structures yet again. With Galway hurlers left without a province once more — their time in Munster deemed a failure — it was decided they’d play the Exiles in an All-Ireland quarter-final.
In 1973, backboned again by Tom Connolly, London created a sensation by beating Galway in the quarter-final, losing their semi-final to eventual All-Ireland champions Limerick. It was the high point for London hurling, who would depart the senior championship once again by the end of the decade.
Meanwhile, Keher led Kilkenny to an unexpected All-Ireland title, beating hot favourites Cork by six points, their biggest win over their rivals since the 1905 final. KILKENNY: O Walsh; P Henderson, T Carroll, J Treacy; S Cleere, W Murphy, M Coogan; P Moran, M Lalor; P Kavanagh, P Delaney, E Keher; J Millea, M Brennan, T Murphy Subs: P Buckley for Kavanagh, J Kinsella for Millea, F Cummins for Lalor. Scorers: T Murphy 3-2, E Keher 0-11 (7f), P Kavanagh 0-3, P Delaney 0-2, F Cummins, S Buckley, J Millea, S Cleere 0-1. LONDON: W Brainville (Tipperary); M Kirwan (Waterford), L Walsh (Kilkenny), T Nolan (Tipperary); P Fahy (Galway), M Connolly (Galway), N Twomey (Cork); P O’Neill (Tipperary), M Meaney (Cork); T Connolly (Galway), J Bennett (Kilkenny), B Barry(Offaly), J Organ (Clare); N Power (Wexford), T Cleary (Offaly) Subs: S Lambe (Offaly) for Twomey, D Hogan (Tipperary) for Meaney Scorers: J Bennett 0-5 (5f), T Connolly 1-0, B Barry 0-3, N Power, P Fahy 0-1. Referee: A Higgins (Galway).