Cork 0-29; Tipperary 0-22
Hunger is great sauce they say and sure enough with so little hurling to savor in the latter months of last year, we got a record crowd of over 30,000 in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday night for a Liam MacCarthy final rerun between Cork and All Ireland champions Tipperary.
Despite the fact that there were only two points on offer for the winner, both sides went about this clash with physical intent, resulting in a schemozzle which saw 30 players become involved and resulted in a token player from each side being sent off.
This unsightly melee began with a wrestling match between Willie Connors and Alan Connolly, who were both booked.
When it persisted referee Liam Gordon appeared to randomly choose Tipp’s Jason Forde and Cork’s Shane Barrett to head for an early shower.
Right through the game there was an undercurrent of uneasiness between markers and in clashes this manifested itself time and again with petty pushing, shoving and general nasty gesturing.
However, it was obvious too that both sides were holding back as we barely got the sight of a player from either side going for goal, most often they were happy to keep the scoreboard ticking over with points.
In that context, Cork always had the edge and though Tipp fought back from seven points down to cut the margin to three before the Rebels raised it to seven again, it was plain to see that this was a bout of shadow-boxing.
The big crowd and the tv audience and indeed those who didn’t look in, will wait for a further nine weeks plus for the real action to unspool when they go head to head in the Munster SH championship.
In this joust Cork had the edge and could afford the luxury of missing a penalty as they clicked onto three wins so far this league season - and it would be a foolish person to bet against them retaining their league crown.
They will be favorites too for Munster and the All Ireland but we won’t know if they have what it takes to make up for last year’s second half-collapse against Tipperary until the curtain comes down on the season.
Right now with a new manager in former great Ben O’Connor, they appear to have the missing ingredient but the squad and indeed other squads know the jury is out on them until they climb the steps of the Hogan Stand in late July to lift Liam.
No one can deny the Rebels have an embarrassment of riches at their disposal with big men who can run fast all over the pitch. This time around O’Connor and his Tipp counterpart Liam Cahill were keeping plenty in reserve by not playing anything like a full-strength team from the start but some established stars got a run out before the end as if each side was gently reminding the other of what was available down the line.
For Cork, Alan Connolly's eight points and Darragh Fitzgibbon’s seven, including six from play, reminded you of two such stars still waiting to be crowned with a Celtic Cross.
Newcomer William Buckley backed up his five start showing against the Deise the previous week with another fine showing which garnered three points.
Tipp started well but all the while Cork pegged them back to even-stephens status, though it was 0-16 to 0-12 in favor of the hosts at the break. Everyone was happy to hear Gordon’s whistle as it dampened the melee and drew a line over what might have got out of hand.
Cork kept their home fans happy by scoring points at will, but then Tipp called in hurler of the year John McGrath and later his older brother Noel and mighty defender Eoghan Connolly, who hit four long-range frees.
Then Darragh McCarthy, the Young Hurler of the Year, came on and his first free reduced the arrears to a goal four minutes from the end of regulation time.
Cork showed their mettle from there to the end with Connolly leading the way as the reds flashed over four in a row.
Cork with three wins and Tipp with two will reflect on a night where both kept most of their powder dry for bigger challenges ahead with Kilkenny hosting the Rebels and Limerick in Thurles at the end of the month.
In the meantime, Cork Boss O’Connor dismissed the talk around the melee as nothing more than both teams, like all other successful ones, trying “to play on the edge.”
He asked: “Was there anyone hurt? No, and there was pushing and shoving. That's all I saw going on there again tonight. Pushing and shoving between two teams that were mad to have a go at it.
“What other counties aren't on the edge? Everyone's on the edge. So, yes, we're saying play on the edge because everyone's on the edge. That's the way the game's supposed to be played. Just to go back to my comments last week, referees are under too much pressure. Red cards, yellow cards, technical areas, they're under too much pressure.
“Let them go away and referee the match the way they see it and not have an assessor in the stand, putting him under pressure after, you didn't tick this box, you didn't tick that box. That's all I'm saying. That's what every GAA person in the country wants. A good, hard, physical game.
“We're supposed to be playing the fastest field game in the world. If I'm running at you at full pelt and you come at me, slightly turn and flick in the head. Fellas roaring for red cards, yellow cards. That's what the helmets are for. No fellas are getting a belt down on the head deliberately. All we're looking for is the game to be left flow.”
Cork: P Collins; S O’Donoghue, D O’Leary, G Millerick; E Downey (0-2), R Downey, M Coleman (0-2); M Mullins, E Twomey; D Fitzgibbon (0-7, 0-1f), S Barrett (0-2), D Healy (0-3); W Buckley (0-3), D Dalton, A Connolly (0-8, 0-4f) Subs C O’Brien for Coleman (h-t), T O’Mahony (0-1) for Mullins (44), B Hayes (0-1) for Dalton (44), H O’Connor for Twomey (52), R O’Flynn for Buckley (64).
Tipperary: R Shelly; J Ryan, B O’Mara, C O’Reilly (0-1); S O’Farrell (0-1), C Morgan (0-1), S Kennedy (0-1); W Connors (0-2), C Stakelum (0-1); A Ormond (0-2), J Morris (0-3, 0-1f), J Keller; D Stakelum, O O’Donoghue (0-1), J Forde (0- 2f) Subs: J McGrath for D Stakelum (h-t), E Connolly (0-4f) for Kennedy (44), N McGrath (0-1) for Keller (49), D McCarthy (0-2f) for O’Donoghue (56), P McCormack for Ormond (61).
Ref: L Gordon (Galway).
