[2] In the early days of 1978 Cork's hurling followers wondered if the county senior team would complete the holy grail of capturing three consecutive All-Ireland wins in-a-row.

A poor showing in the National Hurling League discouraged the followers; however, the side comfortably won the Munster Championship and qualified for a third consecutive All-Ireland final appearance.

Back at the other end of the field after the puck-out team captain Charlie McCarthy[5] did likewise for Cork when his first shot of the day went wide.

[6] After another intensive tussle around midfield the ball broke to Ray Cummins once again and he took off on a solo run in the direction of Kilkenny’s goal.

John Horgan stepped up to take the free and, while his effort was a good one, the sliothar hit Kilkenny’s upright and came back into play to an unsuspecting Charlie McCarthy.

A Mick Brennan point for Kilkenny leveled the sides once again; however, this was quickly cancelled out by a Seánie O'Leary effort at the canal end of the pitch.

The puck-out broke around the midfield area to Jimmy Barry-Murphy who failed to raise the sliothar onto his hurley but passed it along the ground to Seánie O’Leary.

Not long after this incident John Horgan failed to increase the lead when he sent his third free of the day wide before Billy Fitzpatrick restored level scores again with another point for ‘the Cats’.

Ray Cummins continued to have a dismal afternoon when his shot on goal was saved again by Noel Skehan and cleared immediately.

‘Chunky’ O’Brien gave Kilkenny a one-point lead once again, however, Cork quickly embarked on their most impressive passage of play since the game began.

Tim Crowley, who was enjoying a great battle with Frank Cummins at midfield, gradually wore down the dominance of his opponent.

He grabbed the sliothar straight after the puck-out, broke away down the Cusack Stand side wing on a strong solo run and shot over a spectacular point to lift his team even more.

As Charlie McCarthy climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand to receive the Liam MacCarthy Cup[8] there was a large Cork contingent there to meet him.

Jack Lynch, one of the all-time greats of hurling and the Taoiseach at the time, was the next person to extend his congratulations to the winning captain.