Cork have that little bit extra

Cork - 1-23 Tipperary - 0-7On a day when Cork looked to have secured the most undisputed of Munster football titles, they now appear set to lose it on a technicality. In the course of yesterday's 19-point landslide victory they used 21 different players, one more than is legally allowed.

Though it was no consolation to Tipperary in the aftermath of this hammering, under the GAA rule book Cork are in danger of having to forfeit their title. Last night, the matter was in the hands of the Munster Council and the GAA's Games Administration Committee.

Once again the problem revolved around the use of blood substitutes. Under the rules each team is limited to a maximum of 20 players - including the temporary replacements - with only two exceptions.

The goalkeeper - if suffering from a blood injury - can be replaced outside the normal quota of five substitutes, but only after the five substitutes have been used. An outfield player can also be replaced outside the normal quota of five, but again only when those five substitutes have been used and the referee then orders a player off the field because he is carrying a blood injury.

Cork's problem appears straightforward. Three outfield substitutes were made together on 53 minutes, at which point Cork were up by 17 points and without even the threat of a threat from Tipperary. Shortly afterwards (56 minutes), they replaced goalkeeper Kevin O'Dwyer with Alan Quirke, a straight substitute without any indication of O'Dwyer being injured (nor did Quirke wear the yellow armband required for blood substitutes).

Another couple of minutes after that Noel O'Donovan came on for Ronan McCarthy, clearly wearing the yellow armband, and thus a perfectly legal blood substitute. Some five minutes later McCarthy was back on, and by then Cork had used five different numbered substitutes.

Then five minutes from the end, by which stage Cork were 18 points up, captain Colin Corkery was called ashore to loud applause after his superlative performance and 11-point haul. Diarmuid O'Sullivan came on - thus becoming their 21st player of the afternoon.

A similar misunderstanding arose in the league last February, ending with Kildare being forced to forfeit their points against Sligo - again because of the use of 21 players. Much was written about the blood rule in the aftermath of that incident, and in the heat of championship football there was always the threat of a recurrence.

Michael Cronin came on for BJ O'Sullivan, who had already made his required impact, and Colin Crowley replaced Philip Clifford who after scoring the game's only goal had also done his necessary damage.

Replacing O'Dwyer with Quirke was also nothing more than superfluous surgery. O'Dwyer had as slow an afternoon as he could remember, hardly collecting a ball and only once required to make a save from Declan Browne - Tipperary's only real threat on the day.

None of Cork's substitutes could be said to be tactical. Such was their dominance throughout the field that it was clearly as case of giving extra men the run out. Tipperary, in contrast, were looking to rework their team as they struggled to get a say in the proceedings.

So much of Cork's dominance, though, started from a revamped midfield, the sector which had fallen so flat the last day and allowed Tipperary to turn the expected onslaught into a finely balanced game. Michael O'Sullivan was dropped before the start, and Graham Canty came up from wing back to join Nicholas Murphy. Alan Cronin was also dropped from the attack and in came Maurice McCarthy.

With Martin Cronin now operating in the defence, Joe Kavanagh was also called in and from the start it was a far more productive and effective combination.

In terms of reliability, however, it was Corkery who shone. He hit four of Cork's five opening points that helped them jump into the sort of early advantage that Tipperary so craved. It was 15 minutes into the game before Browne hit Tipperary's opening score, but it was it fell well short of sparking any kind of life into his team-mates.

All the work-rate and creativity that marked Tipperary's play last week was depressingly absent. By half time Cork were up 0-12 to 0-3 and even at that point one all atmosphere had evaporated from Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Fionan Murray found a new gear in the second half and helped Cork to build up their runaway victory. Indeed, Clifford's goal came from Murray's tireless efforts and once the substitutes also got into the action Cork were living a dream afternoon.

It would be a cruel twist of fate, though, if the dream afternoon now turns into a nightmare.

HOW THEY LINED OUT

CORK: 1 K O'Dwyer; 5 S Levis, 3 C O'Sullivan, 4 A Lynch; 2 E Sexton, 6 R McCarthy, 11 M Cronin; 8 N Murphy, 7 G Canty; 10 B J O'Sullivan, 23 J Kavanagh, 25 M McCarthy; 13 P Clifford, 14 C Corkery, 15 F Murray. Subs: J Miskella for Sexton, M Cronin for BJ O'Sullivan, C Crowley for Clifford (all 53 mins), A Quirke for O'Dwyer (56 mins), D O'Sullivan for Corkery (64 mins); Blood Subs: N O'Donovan for McCarthy (57 mins).

TIPPERARY: 1 P Ryan; 5 B Hahessy, 4 D Byrne, 3 N Kelly; 7 S Maher, 2 S Collum, 6 N Fitzgerald; 8 K Mulryan, 9 L England; 10 P Cahill, 15 D O'Brien, 12 F O'Callaghan; 13 P Lambert, 14 D Browne, 11 B Cummins. Subs: W Morrissey for Maher (25 mins), R Costigan for Fitzgerald, B Hickey for Cummins (both half-time), E Hanrahan for Mulryan (47 mins), T Ormonde for Cahill (56 mins).

BOOKED - Cork: B J O'Sullivan (14 mins); C Corkery (39), N O'Donovan (59), N Murphy (68).