GOALS came thick and fast for Cork hurlers against Dublin in the All-Ireland SHC semi-final, but Tipperary will be a different opponent.
The Premier County conceded no goals in their 4-20 to 0-30 win over Kilkenny last weekend, and only let the Cats have two goal chances – one of those came in the very last minute when Robert Doyle blocked John Donnelly’s goal-bound shot.
Tipp did concede four goals against Cork in the Munster round-robin this season (4-27 to 0-24), but the context is they received a red card inside a minute, through Darragh McCarthy.
Tipp let in eight goals in their first three games – against Limerick, Cork and Clare – but since then, they’ve conceded just three (two v Galway and one v Waterford).
Defenders such as Robert Doyle and Eoghan Connolly have quality. Inexperience was an issue initially, but now they’re finding their feet.
Interestingly, Cork boss Pat Ryan told RTÉ after their win over Dublin: ‘There is still a lot of our area that we weren’t happy with. Efficiency wasn’t good enough. Our tackle from behind wasn’t good enough. We gave away two sloppy goals. Everything needs to be perfect for an All-Ireland final. It wasn’t perfect last year. We need to be perfect in two weeks’ time.’
Tackling from behind may need to be improved, but in terms of efficiency, Cork converted 76 percent of their chances against Dublin – their best shooting accuracy in this year’s championship.
Was the Rebels boss trying to play down the hype? Or is there a world where Cork convert over 80 percent in an All-Ireland final?
Kilkenny also had a 76 percent conversion rate against Tipperary, coincidentally. In the quarter-final, though, Tipp’s opponents Galway had a 47 percent conversion rate – so Cork are still going to be tested by Tipp’s defenders.
Alan Connolly’s 3-2 against Dublin was a better tally than his previous five games combined (1-7). From a Cork point of view, you’d be hoping that explosive display can be repeated on July 20th, along with Brian Hayes and Patrick Horgan assisting in the inside line. The trio have a combined 12-67 in this year’s championship – almost half of Cork’s total scores. Their movement in bamboozling the Dublin defence was a sight to behold, and if they reach that form again, they’ll be hard to stop.
Tipp have dangers up front too, and despite their youngsters excelling, it’s the old reliables who continue to lead. Their obvious goal threat is John McGrath, who has hit 5-14 from play in the championship so far. Only Dublin’s Cian O’Sullivan and Kilkenny’s Martin Keoghan have scored more – excluding frees – than the 30-year-old, two-time All-Ireland winner.
Jason Forde scored 1-5 against Kilkenny, converting all of his chances. He hit 0-7 against Galway, again converting everything. It’s not just those two games – he was also accurate against Waterford and Limerick, and got 0-15 against Cork in the round-robin.
At 31 years of age, Forde is experienced, dangerous and also has two All-Ireland medals – from 2016 and 2019. If Cork give the Silvermines man space, he will punish them. Form would suggest Seán O’Donoghue will mark him, given the Inniscarra man’s performances this year.
Match-ups are a discussion for next week, but Cork will have to find the right men for younger forwards Darragh McCarthy, Jake Morris and Andrew Ormond, as well as goalscoring hero Oisín O’Donoghue off the bench.
Another weapon Cork must watch is Eoghan Connolly. He normally plays full-back but drifts forward, scoring 0-3 from play against Kilkenny – taking his tally to 0-13 in the 2025 championship. He has a long puck on him, so Cork can’t allow him to strike – even from beyond the Tipp 65 – and long-range frees are a no-no.
Added to their individual performers, since the Cork loss, Tipp have won five games in a row – all in normal time. Cork may be favourites, but this is a final. Anything can happen. The anticipation is building.
