Hero Hartnett edges gritty Rebels past Tipp in classic
Instead they surpassed last June’s fare to conjure up as spellbinding a game imaginable, packed with top-class individual displays, brilliant score-taking and a fitting finale as extra-time was required to produce a winner.
The tie ebbed and flowed for 80 odd minutes but ultimately it took the critical intervention of Cork corner-forward Brian Hartnett who, having impressed throughout, really excelled in the second half of extra-time as he transformed a 2-25 to 4-20 deficit in the 70th minute into a 2-31 to 4-22 advantage in the 80th minute, by weighing in with six points.
