The three key factors in Cork emphatic victory

1 The Aisake O hAilpín Show

IN THE first 10 minutes, Tipp led by three points to one and Lar Corbett looked the sharpest forward on view; he was denied a goal by keeper Donal Óg Cusack which might have rocked Cork.

Cork didn’t look composed and hurried clearances when they had time on the ball, but cometh the hour, cometh the man. For the next 15 minutes it became the Aisake O hAilpín [show. He had threatened to demolish Pádraic Maher in the league game until moved to centre-forward, but he demolished him yesterday.

Although he didn’t score himself in that spell, both the penalty and super goal scored by Patrick Horgan came from Aisake winning primary possession.

I wrote on Saturday that if Cork got proper ball into the full-forward line that they’d get goals. Aisake finished the game as a contest with a smart strike in the second half, put through by the hardworking dynamo, Jerry O’Connor.

Tipp’s management team will question themselves over their failure to move Maher from full-back earlier than they did. He was clearly uncomfortable, was yellow-carded and his body language suggested he was suffering. The gamble on Brian O’Meara at full-forward didn’t work out either.

2 Cork plan

CORK came with a plan. Their midfield sat back and Jerry and Ben O’Connor in particular played deep, taking short passes from their defence. They then broke up field and fed passes to players in advantageous positions.

When a player in the mould of Jerry O’Connor lines out at centre-forward, it’s obvious that the game plan will be linked through him, rather than by sending long balls down the middle.

There was a lot of movement in Cork’s half-forward line and they also hunted in packs, never allowing Tipp to settle on the ball out the field; accordingly, very little quality ball was coming into the Tipp forwards.

Tipp came to Páirc Uí Chaoimh with no plan yesterday, or if they did, it wasn’t clear to me. They made no attempt to crowd the space in front of Jerry O’Connor – it was as if they felt they’d carry on where they left off in the All-Ireland final, but without having to put in the required effort.

Cork did all the harrying and hassling from the full-forward line to the full-back line, and they had the extra commitment and pace due to their excellent fitness levels.

Tipp got one point from play in the second half, which says it all. Cork’s defence, though troubled in the first 10 minutes, dominated the game from then on, with the half-back line near their levels of five years ago, and Cusack imperious in goal – he brought off three fine saves, including one from Eoin Kelly when the game was still a contest.

3 Puck-out strategies

DONAL Óg Cusack implemented Cork’s puck-out strategy brilliantly; they won almost 75% of their puck-outs, which is phenomenal (the usual ratio is about 35%). Cork also employed short puck-outs and short clearances, then running at Tipp.

John Gardiner was the recipient of some of those puck-outs, and his marker John O’Brien stood off him – right in front of the Tipp management. As Oscar Wilde might have said, to lose one is a misfortune, but two is careless. Why weren’t the Tipp forwards instructed to mark their defenders tightly, thus forcing Cusack to go long, thus giving their own half-back line the advantage?

Cork had allowed Tipp back into the game coming up to half-time and the 10 minutes after the break were crucial. Cork won three of their four puck-outs in this period, while Tipp, on the other hand, lost all of theirs.

That gave Cork’s half-back line the platform to build on their first half display and Tipp were well beaten long before the end.

Denis Walsh deserves great credit, as does his backroom team for the manner of Cork’s play. Their fitness levels and never-say-die attitude overawed Tipperary, who had no answer. Cork’s work rate was phenomenal – it was epitomised by a 60-metre chase by Ben O’Connor on 27 minutes to catch Shane McGrath.

Tipp have some soul-searching to do.

They were well below the levels of their All-Ireland final display last September, and after this mauling, and the failure of so many of their big players, much attention will be focused on physical fitness and planning as they prepare for the scenic route.