IT’S the final that will be remembered in Cork for all the wrong reasons.
The expected coronation was hijacked, leaving a county battling to comprehend how it all went so badly wrong.
By now, you know the main takeaways – Cork, without playing well, led by six at half time, but in the most unexpected second half, they managed just two points in almost 40 minutes of play.
Tipperary, meanwhile, went on a scoring bonanza, rattling off scores faster than Sharlene Mawdsley breezed past some locals in a 6am sprint down the road, as celebrations continued in the Premier County this week.
This 21-point turnaround will become the stuff of legend (for all the wrong reasons here): how Cork led a 1-16 to 0-13 half-time lead descended into a humbling 3-27 to 1-18 loss that left the Rebels reeling, and deflated the entire county.
The winter will lengthen in front of this group as the post-mortem will continue for some time, but it’s the scars that will take longer to heal. Bringing the Liam MacCarthy Cup back to Lee-side would have soothed the pain of recent heartbreak, most notably last year’s extra-time All-Ireland final loss to Clare.
Instead, the wound is deeper than before.
The theory that Cork hurling has a soft underbelly riles many. Understandably so. The skill levels are unquestionable, but there have been times the fight and resilience has been questioned. What unfolded in the second half against Tipperary – being outscored by 3-14 to 0-2 – in the game that mattered the most will only fuel that perception, but also hang a huge question mark over this team: can they deliver when they really have to?
Evidence this season suggests there is a grit to Cork – the turnaround from a 16-point loss to Limerick in the Munster SHC round-robin stage to then toppling the Treaty County in the provincial final. They weren’t found wanting in the Gaelic Grounds that evening as they ended a wait for the Munster title. They also won the league crown, so this was a team getting used to winning silverware and trending upwards, so what happened in the second half in Croke Park on Sunday?
Patrick Horgan’s miss from a free early in the second half has been suggested as a game-defining moment. If he scored, Cork would have surged seven ahead. Instead, it whizzed just wide, confirmed by Hawkeye. Fine margins.
Tipp then wrestled control of the momentum, hit five points in a row before striking for their first goal. It was all one-way traffic, and Cork had no answers. There was, alarmingly, no fight either. Tipp out-fought and out-thought Cork. There was no Rebels’ resistance, instead an acceptance of their fate long before the end.
This season, we had seen Cork over-run at times. Clare came back from 12 points down at half time in their Munster SHC clash to earn a draw. At half time in Cork’s provincial loss to Limerick, they trailed by 15 points, 2-18 to 0-9, and lost by 16. Now we have the All-Ireland final second-half performance to add to the evidence that suggests there’s a scar here that hasn’t healed: there’s a mental fragility to this team that needs to be addressed before they take the biggest step of all, from challengers to All-Ireland champion.
The decision to skip hosting a homecoming on Monday drew various responses, but you can understand why: this wasn’t a one-point heartbreaking loss after extra-time like last year, this was a very public annihilation after one of the greatest GAA collapses of all time. These players are in the hurt locker, trying to come to terms with what has happened.
Only time will tell if this collapse becomes a turning point – or just another chapter in Cork’s recent history of nearly and not enough.
