Cork 4-27
Tipperary 0-24
JOHNNY CAROLAN REPORTS
A MONTH on, we can finally say it – Cork winning the Allianz Hurling League was a good thing.
Equally, coming out of Ennis with a draw in their Munster SHC opener was a creditable outcome. Allied with victory over Tipperary at Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Sunday, qualification for the All-Ireland series looks to be a good prospect.
Had Pat Ryan’s side not got the better of the Premier County at the Páirc for the second time in the space of four Sundays, then the league win would have been cast as a millstone and the draw away to Clare held up as an exemplar of how not to win a match.
Such is the way that a narrative is reverse-engineered in GAA, but the Rebel faithful need not have worried. As in the league decider, three first-half goals put Cork in control and, while the second half again failed to match what had gone before, there was no question about the outcome as the scores continued to come.
Of course, it must be pointed out that they faced a 14-man Tipperary side for all but the opening seconds as the visitors’ young corner-forward Darragh McCarthy was sent off inside the opening minute after an incident with Cork corner-back Seán O’Donoghue prior to throw-in.
Cork's Seamus Harnedy and Tipperary's Sam O'Farrell battle for possession.
Having twice lost last year when a man down – and almost doing so again against Clare – Cork certainly made the most of their extra manpower, seizing a grip early that Tipp could not loosen. It all added up to a largely stress-free outing, with manager Pat Ryan pleased to get the win.
‘I think in the Munster championship, it doesn’t matter how you win, as long as you win,’ he said.
‘That is the key. Everyone wants you to play champagne hurling and want you to score goals and all of that. Getting over the line and winning matches, we couldn’t do it above in Ennis the last day. We did it a bit better today and we move on.’
A crowd of 42,231 was stoked up early as mini-scuffles broke out all over the pitch just as Johnny Murphy threw in the ball. Tipp’s Craig Morgan secured possession and sent the ball over the bar but it was a point that went unregistered as Murphy had to deal with what had led to O’Donoghue prostrate on the ground.
Following consultation with his officials, the red card was shown to a distraught McCarthy and Cork were given a major trump card. It was one they played well, utilising goalkeeper Patrick Collins’ distribution to good effect, and the goals quickly followed.
The first was scored by Tim O’Mahony, set away by a lovely Brian Hayes pass; not long after, O’Mahony was the provider before Patrick Horgan turned Michael Breen to create space before blasting home. That left it 2-3 to 0-2 and soon it was 3-6 to 0-3 – the third goal scored by Alan Connolly despite being fouled after he took possession from Darragh Fitzgibbon, who had surged in along the endline.
With wing-forwards Declan Dalton and Séamus Harnedy adding some good points and Tipp largely reliant on Jason Forde frees, the 3-13 to 0-12 half-time lead was commanding and could even have been more but for some second-quarter sloppiness, though Cork again had to cope with the forced departure of captain Robert Downey. Ryan later revealed that the centre-back’s absence was down to little more than a dead leg and in his absence Mark Coleman was an ideal spare man, while Ciarán Joyce was excellent at centre-back in the second half.
Tipp needed a miracle to get back into it, but Collins – who had saved brilliantly from Sam O’Farrell in the first half – was rarely called into action. A tame Andrew Ormond effort was as close as they came and the margin between the sides was never less than nine points.
Horgan, Dalton and sub Robbie O’Flynn were among the scores as Cork pulled clear again and they led by 14 after Joyce picked out Dalton, who produced a superb finish for the fourth goal.
By the end, 15 points separated the sides, with sub Tommy O’Connell another to get on the scoresheet. With Cork top of the table as they enjoy two weekends off before facing Limerick, Ryan was satisfied.
‘Look, we have three weeks now,’ he said, ‘so we'll have plenty of training and plenty of opportunities. When you're going from the league final to Ennis and then from Ennis to Páirc Uí Chaoimh, it's very hard to do any proper training and give any fella an opportunity to get onto the 26 or get onto the team.
‘From our point of view now, we have two and a half weeks and we'll get a lot of good training done in those two and half weeks and open competition back up for the 15 and the 26 and see where that lies.’
Scorers - Cork: Patrick Horgan 1-9 (6f); Declan Dalton 1-6 (2f); Séamus Harnedy 0-5; Tim O’Mahony, Alan Connolly 1-0 each; Darragh Fitzgibbon, Brian Hayes, Robbie O’Flynn 0-2 each, Tommy O’Connell 0-1. Tipperary: Jason Forde 0-15 (12f); Jake Morris 0-3; Willie Connors 0-2; Craig Morgan, Eoghan Connolly, Andrew Ormond, Darragh Stakelum 0-1 each.
Cork: Patrick Collins; Niall O’Leary, Eoin Downey, Seán O’Donoghue; Ciarán Joyce, Robert Downey, Mark Coleman; Tim O’Mahony, Ethan Twomey; Declan Dalton, Darragh Fitzgibbon, Séamus Harnedy; Alan Connolly, Patrick Horgan, Brian Hayes. Subs: Ger Millerick for Robert Downey (20, injured), Luke Meade for Twomey (47), Brian Roche for Connolly (53), Robbie O’Flynn for O’Mahony (57), Tommy O’Connell for Joyce (66).
Tipperary: Barry Hogan; Eoghan Connolly, Michael Breen, Robert Doyle; Sam O’Farrell, Ronan Maher, Bryan O’Mara; Craig Morgan, Alan Tynan; Conor Bowe, Jake Morris, Darragh Stakelum; Darragh McCarthy, John McGrath, Jason Forde. Subs: Noel McGrath for Stakelum, Andrew Ormond for Bowe (both 42), Séamus Kennedy for Tynan (46), Gearóid O’Connor for John McGrath (51), Willie Connors for O’Farrell (67).
Referee: Johnny Murphy (Limerick).
