All-Ireland SHC Final/ Cork v Kilkenny - Through the Years: Paddy Downey casts a nostalgic eye over past episodes of a serial rivalry unique in its colour and drama

September's early days are perennially heady times for hurling followers. As the All-Ireland final approaches, anticipation tingles; there is magic in the air and the passing days can seem twice as long as their normal span.

Sometimes - but only sometimes - when the summit of the hurling season has passed, leaving perhaps only lacklustre memories of a poor or undistinguished game, hindsight prompts the romantic notion that, truly, it was better to travel hopefully than to arrive.

Happily, such occasions are rare and supporters of winning teams are invariably immune to any twinges of disappointment.

Heady days of high hopes precede all All-Ireland hurling finals, irrespective of the teams involved; but there seems to be a special atmosphere created, a faster flow of adrenalin induced, a keener expectation of hurling's splendour unfolding, when the counties in contention for the title are Cork and Kilkenny - as they will be once again at Croke Park on Sunday.

The reasons for that special atmosphere of hope and expectation have been wrought over more than a century of Cork-Kilkenny All-Ireland encounters. Where these counties and their hurling are concerned the past is never a different country.

They have adorned the game with several classical finals. There is no legacy of hostility, no legacy of grudge or begrudgery. The spirit of sportsmanship has very rarely been marred throughout their long history of competition. Thus, no matter what the result or the standard of hurling, we can expect another sporting contest on Sunday.

The counties have met 18 times in All-Ireland finals - not counting replays - and once in a "home" final (1903). Kilkenny have won the title in 11 of those encounters, five of them by a single point - in 1904, 1907, 1912, 1939 and 1947. Their other six victories over Cork were in 1905 (in a replay ordered after objections to Cork's win in the first game), 1969, 1972, 1982, 1983 and 1992. Cork's seven victories were in 1893, 1926, 1931, 1946, 1966, 1978 and 1999.

Represented by their leading clubs Blackrock (Cork) and Confederation (Kilkenny), the counties met for the first time in the All-Ireland final of 1893. The game was played in the Phoenix Park on June 24th, 1894, and Cork won by 6-8 to 0-2. At that time and for a few years thereafter a goal equalled five points, thus giving the victors a massive margin of 36 points.

Cork defeated Kilkenny again in the "home" final of 1903 (London-Irish were then competing in the senior championship) but the Corkmen's next All-Ireland final victory over their great rivals was not achieved until 1926. Strangely, Kilkenny failed to score even a single point on that occasion, the remarkably result being 4-6 to 2-0 (the value of a goal at that time had long since been reduced to three points).

They met again five years later. That was the famous final of 1931, which went to two replays, drawing an attendance of 33,124, then a record. Those games raised the profile of hurling to new heights nationally and brought to all subsequent Cork-Kilkenny contests a unique glamour and attraction.

Cork won that year by 10 points (5-9 to 3-4). The result, Kilkenny claimed, was decisively influenced by the absence of their captain, the legendary Lory Meagher, who sustained a rib injury in the first replay. Meagher's famous team-mates included such greats as Paddy Phelan, Paddy Larkin, Mattie Power and Martin White, who, happily, is still alive and well at 94 years of age, the only surviving member of either of the 1931 teams.

Among the great Cork players in that final were the captain, Eudie Coughlan, Jim Hurley, Pat "Fox" Collins, Jim O'Regan and Dinny Barry-Murphy.

The counties met again in 1939 in what has become known as "the thunder-and-lightning final". The game is also remembered for being played on September 3rd, the day Britain declared war on Germany, who had invaded Poland on the previous Friday.

The standard of hurling was exceptionally high despite the fact that much of the game was played under a deluge of rain. Kilkenny took the title by a single point (2-7 to 3-3), scored by Jimmy Kelly almost on the call of time.

The great Jim Langton made his debut for Kilkenny that day and the Cork captain, Jack Lynch, was also appearing in his first final.

Both men were key players when Cork and Kilkenny again met in the final of 1946. Cork, who had won a record four-in-a-row between 1941 and 1944, captured their fifth title in six years on the score of 7-5 to 3-8 - a nine-point margin.

A game that was much closer than the final scoreline suggests was distinguished by one of Christy Ring's goals - a score recalled by many hurling followers as the greatest of his career.

Ring, who was team captain and also a selector, gathered the ball near midfield, and carrying it on his hurley, swerving and weaving his way past opponents, reached the 21-yard line or beyond and then, with unstoppable power, drove it past goalkeeper Jim Donegan.

The teams met again a year later in a game rated by many as the greatest of all hurling finals.

Kilkenny had devised a defensive plan to curb Ring and once more finished in front by the minimum margin - 0-14 to 2-7. Terry Leahy, who had also played in the finals of 1939 and 1946, scored the winning point at the railway end late in the game, having gathered the ball from a long clearance by right full back Paddy Grace and struck from around 50 yards out and not far inside the Cusack Stand sideline.

Some twenty years passed before the counties clashed again for the premier title - and that 1966 All-Ireland was the first Cork-Kilkenny hurling final reported for The Irish Times by this writer, whose privilege it also was to record their fluctuating fortunes on six more September days of the red and white versus the black and amber.

Kilkenny were lengthy odds-on favourites going into the 1966 final. Cork had not played in an All-Ireland over the previous ten years and had not taken the title since 1954, when Ring won his record-making eighth medal. They had hit rock bottom in the first half of the 1960s, their blackest day being the 1965 Munster final, in which Tipperary trounced them by 18 points - 4-11 to 0-5. Even though they had regained the Munster title in 1966 their prospects of taking the All-Ireland were not rated either by the public or the bookmakers.

Before the Cork team was selected there was much speculation throughout the county on the possibility of Christy Ring being recalled and thus given a chance of winning his ninth All-Ireland medal (Tipperary's John Doyle had drawn level with him on eight in 1965).

Ring had not played championship hurling for Cork since 1962 but at the age of 46 was still performing well for his club, Glen Rovers.

The question was seriously discussed by the selectors and there were rumours Ring would at least be offered a place among the substitutes. But he made it known, it was said, that he did not wish to be considered - he did not want an All-Ireland medal that might be seen as contrived, a mere "gift".

In the event, Cork defied predictions and, captained by Gerald McCarthy (who also captained the county's victorious under-21 team that year), beat Kilkenny by 3-9 to 1-10. It was, however, only a moderate game. Cork's determination and fitness were major factors, though Kilkenny claimed that over-confidence was their own downfall.

Cork won the decisive battle of tactics, especially in the first half, and, trailing by only two points at the interval, had a strong wind and sun behind them in the second half.

Thousands of Cork supporters thronged the pitch after the final whistle chanting and cheering so loudly for more than 15 minutes that the GAA president, Alf Murray, had to abandon his presentation speech. Meanwhile, the winners' long-serving trainer, Jim Barry (the title "manager" had not yet come into vogue), was carried shoulder-high off the field.

Roles were reversed before the county's met in the 1969 final. Kilkenny were now the underdogs but in the final proved how mistaken that lowly rating had been.

Despite problems at midfield Cork dominated the first half but in the second half, and particularly in the last 20 minutes, Kilkenny, captained by the great Eddie Keher, shattered their rivals with a rally that turned a seven-point deficit at a late stage of the first half into a six-point lead, 2-15 to 2-9, at the finish.

That rally was triggered when their centre forward, Pat Delaney, sustained a severe head injury and was stretchered off 10 minutes into the second half - the result of what this reporter described as "a dubious blow of a hurley" by a Cork defender.

There were no "dubious" tactics in Kilkenny's explosive response, just pure, polished skill and overwhelming power. The superstar of that resurgence was their splendid centre half back Pat Henderson.

Going into their next All-Ireland final with Cork, that of 1972, Kilkenny were again underdogs, Cork's high rating being based on their victory over Limerick in the National League decider and a score of 6-18 to 2-8 in the Munster final against Clare.

For the second time in four years Kilkenny greatly relished their underdog status - as I observed when visiting the county some 10 to 12 days before the final (special press nights and restrictions on interviews with players were unknown at that time).

Their desire to retain and reinforce the underdog tag was palpable, as the following anecdote shows. After training at Nowlan Park one evening the late John D Hickey of the Irish Independent and myself jointly interviewed the county secretary and former All-Ireland medal-winner Paddy Grace. Just one of his comments revealed their strategy: "We have no chance against this mighty Cork team." Both of us detected the roguery behind his words.

Not so in a later joint interview with another leading team mentor, (who must for now remain nameless). Copious notes were taken in a quiet corner and then, with thanks profusely expressed, the notebooks were put away. Whereupon the mentor leaned towards us confidently, inquiring if the interview was over. "Because," he said, "I don't want this quoted. I don't think our forwards are good enough."

Simple and trusting hacks that we were, we fell for it. The final (the first of 80 minutes' duration) was a tremendous game and Kilkenny were tremendous in their manner of winning it by 3-24 to 5-11.

Again, a rally of huge proportions was needed. Cork were eight points clear after 17 minutes of the second half and Kilkenny won by a margin of seven. The winners scored 2-9 and Cork failed to reply, even with a solitary point, in the last 23 minutes of the game. The forwards were good enough by a mile, and so were the backs, where Pat Henderson was again supreme.

Six years later Cork avenged their 1972 defeat when, in the 1978 final, they won by 1-15 to 2-8. It was their third in a row - they had beaten Wexford in the finals of 1976 and 1977 - and Christy Ring was an influential selector in those years.

Four years later Kilkenny were back on top when a team captained by the current manager, Brian Cody, trounced Cork 3-18 to 1-13, to win the 1982 title. That 11-point margin was Cork's heaviest defeat in a final by Kilkenny since 1905, when 13 points (7-7 to 2-9) separated the teams.

Kilkenny retained the title in 1983 but Cork ran them much closer on that occasion (2-14 to 2-12).

Cork and Kilkenny met twice for the title in the 1990s and, as the whole world knows, the spoils were shared. Kilkenny won by 3-10 to 1-12 in 1992 and in 1999 Cork, for the first time, had just one point to spare in a final against Kilkenny, 0-13 to 0-12.

And now we wait with bated breath and delicious impatience for Sunday. Cork lead the honours list with 28 titles, Kilkenny are in second place with 26. Who will win this one? So sorry, this is a strictly prediction-free zone.

The sole purpose of this piece is to look back in ANGER - that is, in Admiration, Nostalgia, Gratitude, Elation and Reverence.

There is one prediction. A hundred years from now, hurling followers will still look back at Cork-Kilkenny finals with the same acronymic ANGER. Their glory and their glamour will never fade.