WHERE do you even begin with that?
First, credit where it’s due: congratulations to Tipperary. Their second-half performance was electric – they blew Cork away to win the All-Ireland final by 15 points. As captain Ronan Maher said in his acceptance speech, they made the late Dillon Quirke proud.
Now, the understatement of the year: this was not Cork’s best day. In fact, that second-half collapse will haunt them for some time.
Tipp outscored Cork by a staggering 3-14 to 0-2 after the break. A flat ending to what had been an impressive campaign for the Rebels.
But this Cork season was always going to be judged by one question: Did they win the Liam MacCarthy? Anything short of that would mean a long winter on Lee-side.
In the first half, Cork looked in control. Without hitting full stride, they led 1-16 to 0-13 at the break, converting 17 of 22 shots – 77 percent accuracy. Diarmuid Healy and Shane Barrett were flying: Healy scored 0-3 and created two more, while Barrett hit 1-3 and an assist, converting all his attempts. That Barrett goal just before the whistle looked like a massive moment. With the tunnel scuffle that followed, the fire seemed to be there.
But the second half was a horror show. Cork landed just two points from 13 shots – a miserable 15 percent accuracy. It was, according to @aaronmaher95 on X, the worst second-half scoring return in an All-Ireland final since 1887.
Meanwhile, Tipp caught fire: 17 points from 25 attempts (68 percent). The difference in efficiency between the two sides was dramatic.
Cork had scored 1-8 from turnovers in the first half; Tipp flipped the script with 3-5 from turnovers in the second, plus 0-7 off Cork’s puck-outs. When Tipp saw a crack, they didn’t hesitate.
As Donal Óg Cusack noted on RTÉ, Barrett’s goal should have been a launchpad. Instead, it seemed to flatten Cork. When Tipp rallied, Cork offered no answer. No spark. No idea.
Yes, the Eoin Downey sending off was crucial. His dismissal and Darragh McCarthy’s resulting penalty gave Tipp an extra cushion. At half-time, I messaged our Star Sport WhatsApp group: Downey has to be careful on McGrath. He had already mistimed two tackles and was on a yellow. While some might argue the second booking was harsh – with McGrath arguably pulling Downey’s hurley – a red card was coming. Cork didn’t act fast enough, and they paid dearly.
Tipp’s final tally from Cork errors: 3-12 of their 3-14 came from turnovers or puck-outs. That’s a killer stat.
There was also sloppiness. For Tipp’s first goal, Jake Morris’s shot looked like a point, but Patrick Collins got a hurl to it – only for McGrath to pounce and bury it. Panic set in before the penalty incident: Cork coughed up the ball, Tipp launched a long delivery, and chaos reigned.
The third goal summed it all up. Cork were trying to play their way out, but Tipp hunted in packs. Once the turnover came, Connolly sent in a dangerous ball. McGrath made the run, O’Donoghue lost track, and bang – another goal.
There will be regrets from the Cork camp on how they lost possession from those turnovers.
Overall, Tipp won the ball back 31 times compared to Cork’s 14 in the second half. For Cork to concede scores from almost half of those lost possessions was damning.
When previewing this final, we looked at how the sides match up based on average figures per game in this year’s championship. In the final, Tipp bettered their goal scored, improved on their turnovers won by seven, their frees conceded and their frees won.
Even when looking at the puck-out, Cork averaged winning around 40 percent of their opposition’s restart. In the decider, Tipp only allowed Cork to win 27 percent of their own puck-out.
Granted, Cork were off colour, but Tipp didn’t allow the Rebels the space they were offered against Dublin in the semi-final either. Tipp deserve credit for that.
You can break down all the figures you want but the key is that Tipperary were better than Cork on the day it mattered the most. Even in the first half where Tipp matched Cork for shot attempts and won more of their own puck-outs.
It will be a long winter but there is no denying the better team on the day were the victors.
