Write off these dangerous Rebels at your peril

I met a man before the game yesterday, Eamonn O’Driscoll, originally from Christy Ring country in Cloyne but now living in Midleton, and he told me this was his 57th year following Cork in the Munster championship.

He also said to me, “if we come out of Thurles today with a three-point defeat or better, I’ll head for home a happy man.”

Well, whatever about all the other Cork supporters who were in Semple Stadium – and I was surprised at the huge numbers that turned up – I’d say Eamonn enjoyed his journey back to Midleton.

And on the support issue, I’ll make this prediction – depending on the draw, I’d say there will be an even bigger crowd following Cork the next time they play. And why wouldn’t they, with the magnificent character in this team, and the magnificent characters?

Remember, this was their first big game this year, their first big game with all the team together, and if it hadn’t been for their erratic shooting in the second half, they would have won.

Look at the chances missed – the shot across the goal by Pat Horgan, the disallowed goal by Timmy McCarthy, called back for a Cork free, the miss-hit pass from Aisake O hAilpín to Horgan, all in the second half, when Cork came storming back. And that’s not to mention all the Cork wides in that half, against just one for Tipp. Add up all those scoring opportunities, and you see Cork dominance.

Why didn’t Cork win, why did Tipperary eventually pull it out?

First – and foremost – you must give credit to Tipperary. Backs to the wall, they made the changes, the brave calls, took off the likes of Noel McGrath – who had scored three points from play – and Seamus Callanan – who had done even better, with 1-3 – and brought on Pat Kerwick and Benny Dunne.

Those calls made all the difference in the end, helped to break the dominance of the Cork half-back line. Tipp dug in, fought hard when everything was going against them, and won a game they might not have won in the past.

When Cork brought it back to one point with still nearly quarter of an hour remaining, Tipperary could have dropped the heads; they didn’t. Instead they dug deeper, outscored Cork by four points to two in the remaining period – that too was character, a very positive sign for the future.

The one thing that really brought Cork back into this game was the move of John Gardiner to midfield, Tom Kenny going back to wing-back – both of those players thrived in their new positions, Gardiner especially. Bringing on Pa Cronin also worked out well for Cork.

I want to pay tribute here to the old guard in Cork; Cusack, on whom I called on Saturday to take up the mantle of the Rock, they did just that – he was brilliant at the back, organised his defence, handled everything that came his way. I’ve already mentioned Gardiner and Kenny, but look at the others; Ronan Curran, Seán Óg, Ben and Jerry O’Connor – all were outstanding again yesterday.

Most of all, however, if we’re looking at individual Cork displays, I want to single out Eoin Cadogan. Trying to fill the boots of Diarmuid O’Sullivan was a huge ask, and remember that Eoin is a centre-back, that’s his best position – he was tremendous, my man-of-the-match. Add in the fact that Cork lost Shane O’Neill – the only experienced man they had in the full-back line – as early as the 18th minute, and that all only added to the pressure Cadogan was under. He handled it all like a veteran. I’ll tell you this – I wouldn’t like to be the team that’s drawn against Cork in the first round of the qualifiers!

To Tipperary. Liam Sheedy will be a really happy man that they came away from this with a win; think of this – for 28 minutes of the second half, Tipperary failed to score.

The 38th minute, a point by Seamus Callanan, then the 66th minute, a free by Eoin Kelly, with nothing in between – how often will you see that?

Hardly championship-winning form, and too many of the Tipp players – and I’m thinking of Seamus Callanan and Noel McGrath especially – seemed to think they had enough done.

I was impressed, however, with the likes of young Pádraic Maher – commanding presence for a fella so young. The full-back line too did well, conceded just one point from play in the whole game, and not too many more from frees, admittedly against a Cork attack that wasn’t getting a great supply. Lar Corbett and John O’Brien made some great puckout catches, but they too were in and out of the game – not good enough at this level.

From Cork, I expect even more improvement, up front especially. In the first half it was almost Ben O’Connor on his own in the forwards, and Cork must examine their original selection.

I couldn’t understand the tactic with Aisake – he’s 6’6”, why look for the low ball? Why not the high ball, the aerial route, and let the corners play off the breaks?

Around the goal you need touch players; Tipp didn’t have it in Micheál Webster, took him off, Cork didn’t have it in Aisake, left him on. He has a lot of improving to do, but you’d expect that.

Having said that, he wasn’t even close to being the worst of the six Cork forwards who started and the sideline took far too long to make the necessary changes.

Overall, hugely enjoyable, and how I’d love to see these two meet again later on.

What odds on that?