Tipperary run out of steam

Cork 4-15 Tipperary 4-11

Fewer than 4,000 gathered in Thurles, the old stand still out of bounds as renovations proceed apace, but the sun shone on a fast firm pitch, the ball fairly flew around the place, and some of the collisions were serious.

With the second stage of the league looming large, Cork, coming off a disappointing loss to Offaly last week, needed the points from this game much more than unbeaten Tipp and, eventually, that hunger proved decisive.

Initially, however, it looked otherwise, Tipp threatening to overrun a decidedly shaky Cork defence in the opening quarter. 1-4 to 0-4 the home side led after 15 minutes, the goal coming directly from a dipping mis-hit Tommy Dunne free from just inside the Cork 65 that deceived sun-blinded keeper Donal Og Cusack.

It could easily have been three Tipp goals however, even four, as only a couple of last-ditch blocks by the magnificent Wayne Sherlock and Pat Mulcahy (his best game yet for Cork) kept out first Eoin Kelly, then Lar Corbett.

Gradually however the Cork defence got to grips with their opponents, the half-back line of John Gardiner, Ronan Curran and newcomer Tom Kenny gaining an iron hold, and only the brilliant Kelly continued to pose a threat, finishing as top gun, 3-5 to his credit, 3-2 of that from play.

Kelly's last score, his third goal, came in the 12th minute of the second half, and it was to prove the last hurrah for Tipp. That score put them 4-10 to 2-10 ahead, apparently home and hosed, but a highly-motivated Cork had other ideas.

Sherlock moved corners to snuff out the threat of Kelly, the Cork sideline rang the changes, and the tide turned. In came Derek Barrett to add steel to the midfield, where back-to-form Mickey O'Connell had been ploughing a lonely furrow, the rangy Setanta O hAilpin appeared on the edge of the square where his height, ball-winning ability and courage were to cause all sorts of problems (he ended with two goals), while Ben O'Connor also did his bit with the late insurance point, all reinforcing the consistent good work of Alan Browne especially, Joe Deane and Niall McCarthy.

One point, a free by Tommy Dunne, was all Tipp could manage in those last decisive 25 minutes, and despite the smile as he emerged from the Tipp dressing-room afterwards, manager Michael Doyle wasn't very happy.

"Of course I'd be concerned, six points up early in the second-half, maybe we thought we had it won; I think we went on the defensive, which you can't do against a side like Cork, or Kilkenny. You must motor on, and we didn't. We were finding it very hard to win the ball downfield, and we'll have to look at that on the video. It was a tough one, but we knew that coming into it, this was the one, we said we'd know how good we were after today.

"I think we learned more out there than we did in all our other games combined. We're disappointed after it, looking back, we gave away three bad goals, we wouldn't be happy with those at all. Three high dropping balls, poked into the net more than scored, that was disappointing in the back-line. We scored enough, 4-11 should be enough to win any game, but that's the way it goes. Too many soft goals, but this is one game we learned lessons from, and we'll build from here."

For Cork manager Donal O'Grady, the satisfaction of having atoned for last week's loss to Offaly was paramount. "That was the fastest game we've played in, a good bit up from the other games, but not yet up to the pace of championship. Everybody did well, I can't have any cribs. We made substitutions, but that was because fellas were tired. We'd asked for a big effort before the game, and everybody who was substituted had given everything. I don't think you could point the finger at anyone and say they played badly, though some players aren't at full match fitness yet. But this puts us back on the rails, we have a chance of getting to the league final now, and I think that's important, to have a chance of winning the competition you're in. We have three tough games in front of us now."

Those games will be against Kilkenny, the only unbeaten side in the opening phase, Clare and Galway, but the bigger questions will be asked later, in the summer. O'Grady has used the League so far to experiment and is still unsure as to the probable make-up of his championship 15.

"We're just trying to make progress in every game, and I think we made a bit of progress today. We upped the pace a little bit, fought back well, and we're trying to engender that culture into them, that when you're on the back foot, keep fighting. They did that well today. But you can never judge totally on these games. A win is a win, and it's nice to have got this one."

Scorers Cork: J. Deane 1-7 (0-4 frees); Setanta O hAilpin 2-0; A. Browne 1-1; N. McCarthy 0-2; M. O'Connell 0-2; J. O'Connor, B. O'Connor, J. Gardiner (free), 0-1 each.

Tipperary: E. Kelly 3-5 (0-3 frees); T. Dunne 1-2 (all frees); B. O'Meara, C. Gleeson, M. O'Leary, L. Corbett, 0-1 each.

TIPPERARY: B. Cummins; J. Devane, P. Maher, B. Dunne; R. Flannery, A. Butler, B. Horgan; T. Dunne, C. Morrissey; B. O'Meara, C. Gleeson, M. O'Leary; E. Kelly, G. O'Grady, L. Corbett. Subs: D. Kennedy (Butler 50); J. Carroll (Morrissey 54); J. Cottrell (Cummins, inj. 61); L. Cahill (O'Leary 67).

CORK: D. Og Cusack; W. Sherlock, P. Mulcahy, M. Prendergast; J. Gardiner, R. Curran, T. Kenny; A. Cummins, M. O'Connell; N. Ronan, N. McCarthy, J. O'Connor; E. Fitzgerald, J. Deane, A. Browne.

Subs: D. Barrett (Cummins 50); S. O hAilpin (Ronan 52); B. O'Connor (O'Connor 53); S. McGrath (Fitzgerald 69).

Referee: B. Kelly (Westmeath).