Tipperary v Cork: Late surge sends hosts top as Rebels suffer first league loss

Tipperary 2-22 

Cork 1-21

Tipperary moved to the top of Division 1A of the Allianz HL on Saturday night as they inflicted a first defeat of the campaign on Cork.

A late burst of 1-3 was instrumental for the hosts in front of a crowd of 11,357 at FBD Semple Stadium. The sides were level at 1-17 each after Cork had managed to eradicate a four-point deficit by the 54th minute before Tipp pushed on again.

A huge free from captain Ronan Maher had them in front again and, from the resultant puckout, Jake Morris forced a turnover which allowed him to double the lead.

Craig Morgan made it a three-point game and the midfielder was central to the advantage being doubled straight after that as he got on a break from a puckout. When the land in front of him opened up, he carried the ball forward and then passed to sub Dylan Walsh, who had peeled off to the right. He made no mistake and, all of a sudden, it was 2-20 to 1-17.

Cork did reduce that arrears slightly but, with them unable to find another goal in the dying minutes, Tipp held out for a third win in four games.

Cork had begun well, with nice points from Darragh Fitzgibbon and Jack O’Connor putting them into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead, before Tipp struck for a fourth-minute goal. When Alan Tynan caught Barry Hogan’s puckout, his handoff set Jake Morris away and he fired a low shot past Patrick Collins in the Cork goal.

McCarthy followed that with his first point of the evening but, in keeping with what would follow, the momentum swing again. From a long delivery, Shane Barrett – Cork’s captain in the absence of Robert Downey – ran at the home defence, showing lovely skill before offloading to Brian Hayes, who finished from close range.

A free from Fitzgibbon was followed by a nice Cormac O’Brien point to make it 1-5 to 1-2 – it would prove to be the largest lead of the half. While Robbie O’Flynn made it 1-6 to 1-3 after he had engineered a good turnover and Ger Millerick and Micheál Mullins were impressive in defence, Tipp gained a foothold out the field as they reeled off four points in a row.

McCarthy was unlucky with the second of these, flashing a shot over after capitalising on a mix-up between Patrick Collins and Niall O’Leary, though immediately after that Barrett went close for Cork, drawing a save from Hogan after using his pace to create an opening.

While McCarthy’s fifth had Tipp 1-9 to 1-8 in front on 28 minutes, a pair of Fitzgibbon frees and O’Flynn’s second looked to have given Cork the initiative again as half-time neared.

They were behind by the break though, with Jason Forde’s followed by two more from McCarthy, the latter a fine effort, as Tipp went in leading by 1-12 to 1-11.

Fitzgibbon levelled on the restart but Tipp – buoyed by a dominant half-back line – pushed on again, Gearóid O’Connor twice punishing loose clearances during a four-point run to open up the game’s biggest lead up to then. Once more, though, the pendulum swung.

Patrick Horgan was scarcely on when he snaffled a break and fired over; then he was fouled and converted the free himself. When Ciarán Joyce and Ethan Twomey combined for another sub, Diarmuid Healy, to mark his debut with a point, the lead was down to the minimum with 20 left.

It was level when Twomey set up Fitzgibbon for his eighth point but Cork couldn’t forge ahead and Tipp’s next surge proved to be a decisive one.

Scorers for Tipperary: D McCarthy 0-10 (0-5 f), J Morris 1-1, J Forde, G O’Connor 0-3 each, D Walsh 1-0, R Maher (0-1 f), C Morgan, W Connors, A Tynan, O O’Donoghue 0-1 each.

Cork: D Fitzgibbon 0-11 (0-6 f, 0-1 65), B Hayes 1-0, P Horgan 0-3 (0-1 f), R O’Flynn 0-2, M Mullins, C O’Brien, S Barrett, J O’Connor, D Healy 0-1 each.

TIPPERARY: B Hogan; E Connolly, M Breen, R Doyle; J Caesar, R Maher, B O’Mara; C Morgan, W Connors; A Tynan, J Morris, G O’Connor; S Kenneally, J Forde, D McCarthy.

Subs: D Walsh for Kenneally (half-time), O O’Donoghue for Connors (55), M Corcoran for O’Mara (56), J McGrath for Forde (67).

CORK: P Collins; G Millerick, E Downey, N O’Leary; C O’Brien, C Joyce, M Mullins; T O’Mahony, D Fitzgibbon; E Twomey, S Barrett, R O’Flynn; R Cotter, B Hayes, J O’Connor.

Subs: P Horgan for Cotter (46), D Healy for O’Flynn (47), L Meade for O’Mahony (49), J Cahalane for O’Connor (55), B Roche for Twomey (62, injured).

Referee: L Gordon (Galway).