In what is regarded as one of the best and most entertaining finals of its era, the Cork and Mayo All-Ireland decider provided "great fun at a time when football badly needed some".

[1] Cork entered the game hoping to avoid the unwanted accolade of becoming the first team in almost fifty years to lose three successive All-Ireland finals.

Mayo's Noel Durkan set Finnerty free again minutes later, however, in a key turning point of the game, he planted his shot into the side-netting.

The win gave them their fifth All-Ireland title over all and put them joint fourth on the all-time roll of honour along with Meath, Cavan and Wexford.

The team Mayo selected for the 1989 All-Ireland SFC final was full of players more accustomed to the role of midfielder than anything else, e.g. T. J. Kilgallon at centre-back and Greg Maher at wing-forward.