Busy Cork dominate uninspired Tipp

Cork 2-18, Tipperary 0-8

The Cork attack in the opening half was as good as any given by the county in recent years, and on this evidence they will provide defending champions Kerry with a stern test in the Munster final in 11 days' time.

Tipp went into the game having beaten Cork in the round robin series of the championship, but on the night, they had no answer to the brilliance of the Cork attack.

Colin Weste in particular again added to his growing reputation, with another five-star performance.

Defensively, Cork were rock solid, with goalkeeper James Down making a number of magnificent saves, while Eoin Cadogan at full-back and corner men Conor Barrett, Steven O'Donoghue and centre-back Niall Horgan totally in command all through.

As well as Weste, Steven Bermingham, Brian Cotter and Daniel Goulding also made major contributions to an excellent team performance. Tipp on the other hand were hugely disappointing, and only Danny Madigan, Robert Cremin and substitute Shane Long offered any real resistance.

Cork opted to play against the wind despite winning the toss, but it took them six minutes to open their account with a Patrick Kelly point.

Indeed, midfielder Kelly was very influential in the opening minutes, powering forward at every opportunity, and with his partner Alan O'Connor strong in the air, Cork got an early grip, which was reflected by a cracking goal from Colin Weste in the 10th minute.

The potency of the Cork attack was clearly seen by the way they regularly carved open the Tipp back, and they were well worth their 1-7 to 0-2 lead after 20 minutes.

In that time, Tipp did have one goal chance, when Peter Halley careered right through, but Cork goalkeeper James Down got down to save well.

The exciting pace of Colin Weste and the physical presence of Brian Cotter on the 40 had the Tipperary defence under enormous pressure, and Weste showed his exciting talents with a marvellous point while Cotter added two. With five of their six forwards on the score sheet, Cork trooped off at half-time 1-10 to 0-3 in front.

With wind advantage, Cork quickly consolidated their lead with a string of superbly executed points. At the end of the third quarter, Cork had forged further ahead at 1-16 to 0-3, and it was clearly just a case of how much they would win by.

Credit to Tipperary however, who battled on gamely against the overwhelming odds. Credit too to substitute Shane Long, who bagged Tipperary's two goals in last Sunday's minor hurling final against Cork, but was denied a goal by another superb save from James Down.

Tipp's persistence earned them two points in a row but they were only token scores, and substitute Joe Shanahan made it a night to forget for the premier county when he slotted home Cork's second goal in injury time thereby setting up a Munster final clash with Kerry in Killarney on Sunday week.

Scorers - Cork: C. Weste 1-5 (0-2 frees), J. Shanahan 1-1, D. Goulding 0-3, P. Kelly, B. Cotter, J. Hayes (0-1 free) 0-2 each, J. O'Sullivan, S. Bermingham (free) 0-1 each. Tipperary: B. Mulvihill 0-5 (frees), T. Byrnes 0-2, R. Cremin 0-1.

CORK: J. Down; S. O'Donoghue, E. Cadogan, C. Barrett; M. Shields, N. Horgan, P. Murphy; A. O'Connor, P. Kelly; J. Hayes, B. Cotter, P. Kerrigan; D. Goulding, C. Weste, S. Bermingham. Subs: J. O'Sullivan for O'Connor, J. Shanahan for Kerrigan, M. Milner for Hayes, S. McCarthy for Murphy, G. O'Shea for Sheilds.

TIPPERARY: M. McKeogh; D. Madigan, K. Quinlan, J. O'Brien; R. Cremin, S. O'Brien, S. Horan; K. Kiely, N. Melbourne; P. Halley, D. Eagan, K. Quinlan; S. Murphy, T. Byrnes, B. Mulvihill. Subs: D. Morrissey for O'Brien, I. Barnes for Halley, S. Long for Egan, I. Browne for McKeogh.

Referee: P. Lyons (Kerry).