Tipperary survive as Cork begin the sad search for positives 

Kieran Kingston described the Cork dressing-room as “very raw”

Cork selector Diarmuid O'Sullivan consoles Anthony Nash. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile

Tipperary 2-18 Cork 1-17

Saturday night in Limerick was a test for all involved, down to the structures of the stadium.

Wind and rain that shook the very goalposts made conditions challenging for Tipperary and Cork in this All-Ireland SHC round 2 game, but the All-Ireland champions came through, and deservedly so. They brought in scorers from the bench and managed two goals into the breeze, decisive interventions on a desperate evening for any sporting event outside the Vendee Globe yacht race, maybe.

“We wouldn’t be getting carried away by today,” said Tipp boss Liam Sheedy.

I think we need to get better but I think we will get better. You can’t beat match practice. That’s only our second match since March. There’s no substitute for match practice.” 

Backed by that squalling wind, Tipperary struggled to find their range, but still, with Jason Forde’s frees crucial, they led 0-5 to 0-2 on 20 minutes when Patrick Horgan snaffled a loose handpass, ran 50 metres and buried a goal for Cork.

It kept Cork in touch until half-time, when a late Forde free put Tipperary two ahead, 0-9 to 1-4.

Conditions improved in the second half and Tipperary’s Michael Breen started to dominate the middle.

Jason Forde fought his way down the Cork endline for a fine Tipperary goal on 41 minutes, and a Seamus Callanan point made it 1-12 to 1-7.  Seamus Harnedy led the Cork fightback with three points in a row but Breen — impressive throughout — kept Tipperary ahead.

Cork's Shane Kingston holds off Brendan Maher of Tipperary. Pictures: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo

A Horgan 65 put Cork one up going into the last ten minutes but Dan McCormack levelled. Breen’s fifth from play put Tipp back in front and Jake Morris’s well-taken goal late on made it safe for the All-Ireland champions.

“I suppose we lost the toss, Tipperary decided to play with the elements, wind and rain,” said Cork manager Kieran Kingston afterwards.

“I thought we were in a good place at half-time, in the third quarter we didn't push on as much as we could.

“I think we were maybe relying on the elements, which really eased off a lot in the second half. That's not in any way taking from anything but we got caught with two sucker punches.

First one to lose that goal and come back, to go a point up, I think showed huge character and then the second — I just think was a bit late to get back from the second one.

“That was disappointing but I have to say hugely, hugely proud of the effort the lads put in the last two days. We've only been together a number of weeks and I think they showed today what they're capable of.” 

Cork’s Patrick Horgan.

Liam Sheedy was happy with his side’s improvement in the second half: “We felt we didn’t give the inside forwards a good platform to build on in the first half.

“We spoke about that at half-time and thankfully the lads did a better job in the second half and we got the vital goals. Ultimately the two goals into the breeze were the difference, they were the winning of the match.

“Overall Mark Coleman was sitting deep, in front of the full-back line, and was hard to pass. It probably gives defenders in the full-back line that cushion, they can really attack the ball.

“In the second half they (Cork) pushed up and we had more space to play into. Thankfully I thought they (Tipperary) worked the ball well by coming deep, getting the ball and getting on the shoulder then again. Those were vital scores.” 

Cork exit the championship but are there any nuggets to pan out of the season?

Kieran Kingston described the dressing-room as “very raw” but when asked about the possibility of a shake-up in personnel, said: 

It's not the time to be making those decisions. I think the team showed today and the panel showed what they were capable of . . . All I can say is whatever we feel as a group that needs to be done to make us that little bit better, will be done.” 

For Tipperary, Michael Breen’s exhibition in midfield was a valuable boost, as was the quality sprung from the bench. Tipp’s winning margin was almost exactly the substitutes’ scoring tally, indicating a range of options Cork couldn’t match.

Concerns? Jason Forde also left before the end with what Sheedy described as a “niggle”. The first half shot selection, even allowing for the treacherous wind, was often poor. Cork created too many half-goal chances for comfort: a couple of other sides left in the championship would relish those, and likely pursue them with extreme prejudice.

But a night like Saturday’s is always about survival. For Tipperary, mission accomplished.

Tipperary's Jake Morris celebrates scoring the clinching goal. 

The 60-second report

IT MATTERED: 

Lazy though it may be, Jake Morris’s late goal was the difference between the sides. At that point the game was still there to be won, so his clever finish gave Tipperary some breathing space on a challenging night.

CAN’T IGNORE: 

The conditions. It’s difficult to gauge the extent to which they affected the game, because when Tipperary had the wind in the first half it wasn’t always helpful for their shooting. Would they have converted more of those chances on a calmer day?

The fact that the second half was played without that gusting wind also had an impact, though again, the nature of that impact is hard to measure. Would it have had the same effect on Cork’s shooting?

SIDELINE SMARTS: 

Mark Coleman swept to good effect for Cork in the first half, but as Liam Sheedy noted, when the Leesiders pushed up in the second half that gave the Tipperary forwards more space, which they used well. Tipperary also started the most influential player on the field over the 70 minutes. 

MAIN MAN: 

Michael Breen gave an exhibition, covering plenty of ground and chipping in with five points from play.

“Michael is a great player, “ said Sheedy. "He’s got wonderful pace and power and he got himself around that pitch today, even some of his ball-handling in the air and his overall application today in the middle of the park, it was vital for us. He picked off some wonderful scores and we needed them because some of the 12 wides in the first half, normally we wouldn't be missing those.” 

PHYSIO ROOM: 

“Jason (Forde) was a bit niggly near the end coming off,” said Liam Sheedy. “I haven’t seen the diagnosis but fingers crossed. Hopefully not too serious.” 

MAN IN BLACK: 

James Owens of Wexford didn’t endear himself to the Cork management but had a good game overall.

WHAT’S NEXT: 

Tipperary play in the All-Ireland quarter-final next week while Cork must wait now for 2021.

Scorers for Cork: P. Horgan (1-8, 0-1 65 0-7 frees); S. Harnedy (0-4); S. Kingston, D. Dalton, T. O’Mahony, R. O’Flynn, B. Cooper (0-1 each).

Scorers for Tipperary: J. Forde (1-6, 5 frees); M. Breen (0-5); J. Morris (1-0); S. Callanan, D. McCormack, P. Flynn (0-2 each); W. Connors (0-1).

CORK: A. Nash; D. Cahalane, C. Spillane, S. O’Donoghue; T. O’Mahony, R. Downey, M. Coleman; B. Cooper, L. Meade; S. Harnedy, S. Kingston, R. O’Flynn; J. O’Connor, D. Dalton, P. Horgan (c).

Subs: S. McDonnell for Downey (47); D. Fitzgibbon for Dalton (50); C. Lehane for O’Connor (59); A. Walsh for Meade (70); B. Hennessy for Kingston (70).

TIPPERARY: B. Hogan, C. Barrett, R. Maher, A. Flynn, N. O’Meara, B. Maher, P. Maher, N. McGrath, M. Breen, D. McCormack, J. McGrath, P. Maher, J. Forde, S. Callanan, J. Morris.

Subs: W. Connors for J. McGrath (33); P. Flynn for Patrick Maher (53); P. Cadell for N. McGrath (59); D. Quirke for Forde (70).

Referee: J. Owens (Wexford).