Tipp not finished, Cork not quite the finished article

THE table was set, best lace tablecloth, Wedgewood delft, silver cutlery, a centrepiece cut-glass vase of the most colourful, delicate and sweet-scented flowers; the hosts and guests were resplendent in their favoured colours, in good and cheerful voice.

Ah yes, all the ingredients were there, in sun-splashed and pristine Páirc Uí Chaoimh, for a veritable feast of hurling.

First course came, was promising, four points apiece after just nine minutes, almost a score a minute. Good points too, a classic over-the-shoulder shot from distance by Eoin Kelly the pick of the Tipp efforts, the flying Kieran Murphy (Sars) finishing a teamwork beauty for Cork, midfielders Paul Kelly and Jerry O’Connor swapping almost identical efforts from distance, from opposition puck-outs. So, we sat back, grinned, mouths watering in anticipation. Fillet steak? Lobster? Perhaps a combination of both, surf and turf?

No, lads, no. Chicken, skewered, and don’t forget the stuffing, as Cork went on the rampage. 1-13 to 0-5 at the break, this game was out of sight. Or should have been. Tipp shored up what had been a shaky central defence, brought out Eamonn Corcoran, one of many being skewered (in his case, by Joe Deane), from corner-back to the pivotal position, where he thrived. They reinforced a paper-thin attack with some very heavy artillery, Redser O’Grady, John Devane and John Carroll all in.

Slowly the flavour came back, so that eventually we had ourselves a game. Not haute cuisine, but some very decent fare nevertheless, so that when Cork captain Seán Óg Ó hAilpín went to collect the cup, he could feel satisfied that, yes, they had earned this.

“Tremendous atmosphere,” he said, “This was my second Cork-Tipp Munster final, the first was in Thurles in 2000, and that was unbelievable, but this was even better, probably because we were at home. Conditions on the pitch were very hot, but ideal for hurling. The Park is really getting into shape in the last couple of years, Páirc Uí Rinn has taken a lot of the pressure off it. It was like a carpet today. Past players tell me, if you can’t play in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on a summer’s day, you might as well be up in the stands watching.”

Well, for that first half, that’s exactly where Tipp might as well have been, as Cork put on an exhibition, played textbook hurling.

“Yeah, what we do in the training ground was reflected out there, to be honest it was almost too good to be true at times.”

So, Seán, what happened? How did Cork lose their grip so badly?

“Two factors. Usually, when you’re in a position like that at half-time, you can go complacent, and that was part of it.” Admirable honesty there anyway. “But Tipperary also upped their game. They didn’t play at all in the first half, proved that after the break. We said to fellas at half-time, if you were in the Tipp dressing-room now, you’d be getting ready to rise, and they did that, came out and gave it everything. They made some game of it, and if there had been another ten minutes in it, we could have been in even more dire trouble. They’re a proud hurling county, I’ve played them since U-12, schools, club, inter-county. They’re a proud people, we knew they’d come out, give it everything, and they did.

“Look, we’re probably better for it. If we had demolished Tipperary, there would have been a lot of this talk again about Cork and Kilkenny, but there are more good teams left in this championship. For us, the second half showed up some weaknesses we’re going to have to work on again. We won, but we know now, we still have a huge amount of work to be done.”

For Cork there were positive signs, even in those periods of most pressure. Their defence creaked, was breached once, a pushover goal involving half the Tipperary forward pack, but they didn’t break.

Up front, problems in midfield and at half-forward especially, but Kieran Murphy of Sars had a fine game, Joe Deane won everything that came down his wing, sub Neil Ronan was outstanding, three invaluable points from play, while big Kieran Murphy of Erin’s Own again impressed in the short period in which he saw action. Eight points they chiselled out in the second period, each one vital, a point made by Sean Óg.

“We were under pressure for long periods in the second half, but we were resilient, held out. It wasn’t total dominance by Tipp, we were getting the odd point back and that was crucial. If someone told me before this game that we’d win by a point, I’d have taken that,” said Ó hAilpín, “We won by five, I’m happy with that, job done. This time last year, we played in a classic, and lost. Fellas were telling me, ‘Jesus, Sean Óg ye played in a great game’; no good, we lost. At least we have the win. It wasn’t pretty, but we won. People talk about the skill of the Cork-Tipp Munster finals, but deep down, if you don’t have the heart you might as well not be inside the gate. At times today, we had to rely on our heart; Tipp showed great heart as well coming back the way they did. People came to see a typical Cork-Tipp encounter, and that’s what they got, eventually. Tipp made a game of it in the second half. I have no doubt, they’ll take renewed heart from today, and they’ll be back. Mark my words, they’re not finished yet.”

Tipp not finished, Cork not quite the finished article; in an afternoon that only whetted the appetite, didn’t at all live up to its billing, that much at least we’ve learned. We wait for this season’s championship to really take off.