Throw Back Thursday: Cork’s 50th Munster SHC title was truly a cause for celebration 

SEVENTEEN years ago this week, Cork won the Mick Mackey Cup for the 50th time by beating Tipperary 2-14 to 1-14 at Semple Stadium.

In 2006 the Rebels were reigning All-Ireland champions and the team was led by Seán Óg Ó hAilpín; one of the greatest to ever pick up a hurley. 

This wasn’t about him or the players that had become household names all across the country, that was just a by-product of a hurling frenzy in the south of the country.

The big focus was on the derby, Cork against Tipperary, a fixture that has over 100 years of history. Eamonn Murphy, while previewing the game in The Echo, poetically described ‘donkeys and derbies, centenary year wins in Thurles, the end of the Premier famine, Justine McCarthy upsetting the Tipp County Board so much the home and away agreement briefly ended’ before interviewing Ger Cunningham.

The verse combined with an insight from a player forever intertwined with the story of Cork hurling.

“I don’t think you ever get sick of a Cork-Tipp Munster final and I think that has been the reaction since both teams qualified,’ he said.

“There is something special about playing in Thurles especially and some of the best Munster finals in the last 20 years have been played in Thurles, and people are looking forward again to another traditional final,” Cunningham added.

What heightened the tension around the game was the absence of Cork/Tipperary Munster finals since the turn of the millennium. 

The fixture, which was once a yearly tradition, had only been played twice since 2000 in the championship. Cork won both games, with the 2005 final being held at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, and now they wanted to finish the trilogy with a 50th title.

Cork’s championship started in the Munster semi-finals and they beat Clare by six points at Semple Stadium. 

Tipperary were slightly more oiled for the final, as their campaign began in the quarter finals.

The day started off with the minors in action and they whet people’s appetite for the main event by defeating Tipperary 2-20 to 1-15. That game saw another stellar performance by future Cork legend Patrick Horgan, with the forward going into this season after winning the Cork Minor Hurling Championship with Glen Rovers.

When the ball was thrown in, Thurles was a sea of red and John Allen made sure to mention this in his post-match interview with The Echo.

“They’re like the Munster Rugby supporters really – we hot magnificent support and always have. Cork hurling supporters are certainly the best in the country,” he said.

Cork lined out as follows for the Munster final: Dónal Óg Cusack; Brian Murphy, Diarmuid O’Sullivan, Pat Mulcahy, John Gardiner, Ronan Curran, Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, Tom Kenny, Jerry O’Connor, Timmy McCarthy, Niall McCarthy, Cian O’Connor, Ben O’Connor, Brian Corcoran, Joe Deane.

Tipperary started well and were rewarded for this with Lar Corbett hitting the back of the net. 

This was coming as the first chance inside the square went to Diarmuid Fitzgerald and he forced a low save from the Cork goalkeeper. When Corbett got the goal, it was 1-1 to no score and the Premier County had all the momentum.

Cork responded with Brian Corcoran and Jerry O’Connor raising green flags, and that totally changed the pace of the game.

The score at half-time was 2-06 to 1-09 and Cork went in front once the ball was back in play through converted frees by Deane. 

The forward, who played his club hurling with Killeagh, finished the game as top scorer with 0-8 put over and five of those points came from frees.

Cork let this lead slip just once, and that came from Eoin Kelly scoring a brace. 

The two time All-Ireland champion almost won the cup for Tipperary with a rising shot in the 67th minute but Dónal Óg Cusack stopped this.

Deane then put over a free, and that was enough to give Cork the win and bring the Mick Mackey Cup to Leeside for the 50th time.

The only thing that put a dampener on the mood inside the Cork camp was the favourites tag that was applied to them before the game. Allen immediately drew attention to this while speaking to The Echo after the final whistle.

“No matter what anyone said, we don’t want to be going into the game the next day as overwhelming favourites, and we knew Tipp weren’t going to go down without putting up a huge fight and they did,” he said with the words sounding more of relief than celebration.

Even though Cork failed to do three All-Irelands in a row, winning the Mick Mackey Cup for a 50th was a major cause for celebration unto itself and it carried the county through the winter.