Mick Jacob

Mick Jacob (born 1946 in Oulart, County Wexford) is a retired Irish sportsman. He played hurling with his local club Oulart the Ballagh and with the Wexford senior inter-county team from 1969 until 1984.

Playing career

Club

Jacob played his club hurling with his local Oulart-the Ballagh club. In spite of competing in a number of county finals throughout the 1970s and early 1980s he never won a senior county title with the club.

Inter-county

Quigley first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as goalkeeper of the Wexford under-21 hurling team in the 1960s. He won a Leinster title in this grade in 1964 before later lining out in his first All-Ireland final. Tipperary provided the opposition on that occasion and went on to claim an impressive 8-9 to 3-1 victory. Jacob won a second Leinster under-21 medal in 1965 before lining out in a second All-Ireland final. Tipp were the opponents once again, however, on this occasion the result was reversed as Jacob won an All-Ireland medal following a 3-7 to 1-4 win. In 1966 Jacob was moved to midfield as he collected a third consecutive Leinster under-21 medal. Cork were their opponents in the subsequent All-Ireland final, however, that game ended in a draw. The replay also saw both sides finishing with 4-9 apiece. At the third attempt Cork emerged as the victors.

In 1969 Jacob made his debut on the Wexford senior team. He won his first senior Leinster medal in 1970 as All-Ireland champions Kilkenny fell in the provincial final. Galway were defeated in the penultimate game of the championship, setting up an All-Ireland final meeting with Cork, Wexford’s bête noire an underage levels. For the first time ever the final would be contested over eighty minutes instead of the usual sixty. The game itself was an exciting affair with a record sixty-four scores and eleven goals in all. After a free-flowing game Cork emerged victorious by 6-21 to 5-10.

Jacob played in his next Leinster final in 1971. The Kilkenny team of that era, a team often described as the greatest of all-time, provided the opposition on that occasion. In fact, it was the first of five successive defeats at the hands of Kilkenny in Leinster finals for Wexford.

In spite of a lack of success in the championship Wexford reached the final of the National Hurling League in 1973. On that occasion Limerick were the opponents, however, victory went to Wexford giving Jacob his first major title at senior level.

1976 saw Wexford and Kilkenny battle it out in the Leinster final for the seventh year in succession. ‘The Cats’ were going for a provincial six in-a-row and an All-Ireland three-in-a-row, however, Wexford shocked the reigning champions by 2-20 to 1-6. It was a trouncing that nobody expected and it gave Jacob his second Leinster medal. Wexford’s championship campaign nearly came unstuck in their next game against Galway. A high-scoring game ended in a 5-14 to 2-23 draw and a replay was forced at the newly opened Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork. The second game was just as tense an affair, however, Wexford emerged victorious by 3-14 to 2-14. Their opponents in the All-Ireland final were Cork, a team looking for their first championship title since 1970 when they defeated Wexford. Jacob’s side got off to a great start and led by 2-2 to no score after just six minutes, however, Cork settled down and were spurred on with an inspirational display by Pat Moylan. The sides were level at the interval; however, the second-half developed into what was arguably the finest final of the decade. Cork hung on to win by 2-21 to 4-11 as Jacob was left on the losing side.

In 1977 Wexford maintained their provincial dominance with another defeat of Kilkenny. It was Jacob’s third Leinster medal and the defeat for ‘the Cats’ brought the curtain down on Eddie Keher’s inter-county career. Victory in the provincial final allowed Wexford to advance directly to the All-Ireland final. For the second year in-a-row Cork provided the opposition and another classic looked likely. Wet and windy weather severely hampered both teams; however, the game was still a close affair. For the second year in-a-row Jacob ended up on the losing side as Cork claimed a 1-17 to 3-8 victory.

In 1978 Kilkenny were back as champions of Leinster and Wexford had to go back to the drawing board. A new force in the province also emerged as Offaly won their first Leinster titles in 1980 and 1981. Jacob continued playing hurling well into the 1980s, however, after several defeats in the provincial championship he retired from inter-county hurling in 1984.

Provincial

Jacob also lined out with Leinster in the inter-provincial hurling competition. He first played for his province in 1973 as Leinster defeated Munster to take the Railway Cup. Quigley added further Railway Cup medals to his collection in 1975^[1] and 1977.

References

Template:Wexford Hurling Team 1973