Hurling: Lack of goal chances notable from latest Cork and Tipp showdown

For a game that will be remembered for the 30-man tussle which saw Shane Barrett and Jason Forde sent off, Cork and Tipperary’s All-Ireland final rematch was otherwise played without any major tension.

The same could be said of Sunday’s repeat of the 2022 and ‘23 finals between Limerick and Kilkenny, which also saw the hosts prevail by seven points.

That’s the nature of league fare, where the Rebels and Treaty appeared to have the greater need for points, and duly achieved them. Not that there weren’t valuable tidbits of information on the progress of each team.

On Leeside, the lack of goal chances was most notable. Tipperary have been shut out three times in their last 11 games. All three of those fixtures were against Cork at the Páirc.

It must be kept in mind that the visitors arrived minus a handful of their All-Ireland final starters, although both managers ended up using 12 players from that Croke Park meeting.

LIMITED

For a Blood and Bandage side still trialling a new full-back in Dáire O’Leary, keeping Tipp away from any sight of goal was a decent achievement. They limited the Premier full-forward line to one Oisín O’Donoghue point from play. Darragh McCarthy and Forde were restricted to two frees each in their truncated appearances. John McGrath and Darragh Stakelum got little purchase as the ball never stuck.

Cork took a short while to get their supply lines into full operation. Once they did locate pockets of space for mid-range shots, a couple of five-point streaks ensued.

Still, Declan Dalton’s 18th-minute penalty was their only look at goal. That chance was improvised after an initial point attempt by William Buckley was hooked by Cathal O’Reilly. Dalton couldn’t replicate his clinical finish against Waterford as Rhys Shelly continued his strong penalty-saving record. He has denied Conor Lehane, county teammate McGrath in a club game, and now the Fr O’Neills forward in just over six months.

For a Tipp team which has shipped three or more goals to Cork on five different occasions since 2022, that clean sheet was something tangible to carry into their championship-opening rematch.

There was no sign of a sweeper here, although Willie Connors often shuttled back to provide a defensive shield. Even in the period when Johnny Ryan was black-carded, Tipp stemmed the bleeding with three consecutive points. That 10-minute spell ended 0-6 to 0-4 in Cork’s favour. Ultimately, the red cards before half-time provided both teams with a spare man for the second half.

Eoin Downey showed some of the rationale underpinning his switch to wing-back. Pat Ryan had previously spoken about mining more scores from the half-back line. His successor will have been cheered to see the Glen Rovers defender and Mark Coleman chip in with two points each in the first half.

DOMINANT

Between them, Robert Downey provides full-back line cover and an attacking platform with his distribution. It looked like Jake Morris and Andrew Ormond would cause Cork problems by rotating the centre-forward role to each snipe two early points. Neither would register again from play thereafter as Downey dominated.

With Ciarán Joyce to come back into the mix, it gives Ben O’Connor a healthy headache in the half-backs.

Thus far, he has retained the same defensive and attacking spine. Patrick Collins, O’Leary, Robert Downey, Barrett, and Dalton were starting their third consecutive games. As well as the returning Joyce, Brian Hayes could yet contest that 14 jersey.

O’Connor has preferred a roving 13 to date, so Buckley will see a potential vacancy to build upon his 1-7 in two games.

Even missing Barrett for the second half, Cork’s starting half-forward line contributed 0-11 from play to back up their 0-13 tally in Galway. Darragh Fitzgibbon was the chief scorer with 0-6, plus a free.

In the corner, Alan Connolly had his best outing this year with four points from play. He also slotted all four of his frees.

On top of their goal prevention, Liam Cahill will take sufficient lessons from this outing. They had 13 different scorers, albeit few scored heavily. Eoghan Connolly’s four long-range frees after being introduced in the 44th minute made him Tipp’s top shooter.

Teenage corner-back Cathal O’Reilly emerged from his duel with Buckley having done some damage of his own, scoring a point and being fouled for a converted free.

When asked for the most pleasing aspect of the day, O’Connor simply replied: “Winning.” That momentum is a valuable currency. The last three All-Ireland champions have built upon spring campaigns where they won five of their six games to reach a league final. O’Connor would love to take the same route.

That remains a long way off as the hurlers head into a three-week hibernation before heading to Kilkenny on March 1. The training intensity and competition for places will keep things simmering away until then.