Cork bid to turn tables in glamour showdown

WHEN the new format for the minor championships was introduced, it was inevitable that two counties from the same province would contest the All-Ireland final.

Tipperary and Cork make history in tomorrow’s Croke Park decider — their second showdown of the year.

To add a bit more spice to a glamorous final, Cork beat Tipperary in last year’s Munster minor final but the Premier County went on to take the All-Ireland. This year Tipp are provincial champions at Cork’s expense, and the Leesiders are hoping that history can repeat itself tomorrow.

Both teams go into the final with impressive credentials. Cork and Tipperary experienced little difficulty getting to the provincial final which the Premier County won 0-18 to 1-11.

However it was in the All-Ireland series where both teams showed their true form. Cork thrashed Galway in the quarter-final before seeing off a highly-rated Dublin side in the semi- final.

Cork trailed 0-8 to 0-4 after 20 minutes, but two goals in two minutes turned the game around and they displayed tremendous battling qualities to emerge winners by three points in a cracking contest.

Tipp had the easier route to the final. They had no quarter-final game and in a marvellous semi-final against Kilkenny, they came from behind to see off the Cats by four points.

Clearly unhappy with their Munster final performance, the Cork selectors made a number of big calls in dropping a few players and bringing in replacements, and those changes have worked well.

The defence is far tighter now after Jack Herlihy went to centre back; Padraig Gould, whose form has been mixed all season, was outstanding for his club in the recent county SHC while Robert White, another player with immense talent, has also returned to the team following excellent form with both club and divisional sides. The form of the three Midleton players in the senior championship was also superb, all of which suggests the team is bang on form at the right time.

However, this is a superb Tipperary team with some outstanding players.

They are back-boned by a third of last year’s winning team — Padraig Maher, Noel McGrath, Michael Cahill, Seamus Hennessy and Brendan Maher.

McGrath, who is eligible again for 2008, is an outstanding talent; Hennessy is an ace marksman; Padraig Maher has been the rock of the team at full back; his namesake Brendan scored nine points in the semi-final which marks him out as a wing forward with a special talent, while Cahill was magnificent against the Cats at midfield.

There are others on this Tipperary team equally talented. John O’Neill has amassed 2-11 from the four games he has played; Michael Heffernan has hit 2-5 and Patrick Maher 2-1.

While Tipperary, with 17 All-Ireland titles won, will start favourites, Cork have excellent players in Aylwin Kearney, Jack Herlihy, Chris O’Donovan, Lorcan McLoughlin, Killian Murphy, Michael O’Mahony and Ryan Clifford to prevent them from drawing level in the roll of honour.