Here’s Denis Walsh’s report from the Páirc. Thanks for joining us for tonight’s game and good night.
[ Cork’s sharper focus key as they have seven points to spare in win over TipperaryOpens in new window ]
That win leaves Cork two points clear on top of Division 1A, while Tipperary sit second. It was a bit of an odd game, with big peaks and troughs in intensity, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. On the plus side, 30,000 is a huge attendance for a league game in February.
Here are the highlights from tonight’s game.
Ben O’Connor is clearly not fully happy, despite his side overturning the result of last year’s All-Ireland final.
Cork’s scorers in their seven-point win
Darragh Fitzgibbon is a worthy man of the match, and admits to RTÉ that “it probably meant more to us than it meant to Tipperary, being at home and having lost the All-Ireland.”
Full-time: Cork 0-29 Tipperary 0-22
74 Mins: Another good score from a free for Cork, who have finished really strongly. Healy adds another. Cork 0-29 Tipperary 0-22
73 Mins: Alan Connolly with a superb score over his shoulder to give Cork a solid lead. Cork 0-27 Tipperary 0-22
71 Mins: Super battle between Connolly and Craig Morgan, with Connolly playing the egg and spoon race to get beyond his man, before the Tipp defender got back for a big block. Rob Downey is hit a huge dunt by Eoghan Connolly, but then is fouled the second time around to give the Rebels a handy free. Cork 0-26 Tipperary 0-22
69 Mins: Fitzgibbon gets a settler for Cork from that free. Bryan O’Mara hits a wide, but he had the advantage. Connolly drills it over. Cork 0-25 Tipperary 0-22
67 Mins: Rhys Shelly seems to have pulled something on his last puckout, but he carries on. Healy with another wide for Cork. Great block on McCarthy by Rob Downey and Connolly wins a free after taking on two Tipp men. Cork 0-24 Tipperary 0-21
65 Mins: O’Flynn sells Cormac O’Brien short with a hand pass, and Tipp win a free. Darragh McCarthy goes through his usual routine despite massive jeering, and slots it. Cork 0-24 Tipperary 0-21
63 Mins: Patrick Collins does well to collect a dropping Connolly free, but Diarmuid Healy can’t capitalise with the resulting scoring chance. William Buckley off for Robbie O’Flynn. Cork 0-24 Tipperary 0-20
61 Mins: A big turnover by Tipp gives the feeling of a momentum swing, but the Cork defence do really well to win it back when the ball comes in high. Cork 0-24 Tipperary 0-20
60 Mins: Rob Downey comes out of defence with men hanging off him, but is called for overcarrying instead. There’s still a sense that things could bubble over. McCarthy gets his first score. Cork 0-24 Tipperary 0-20
58 Mins: Connolly adds a third free from downtown. There’s a strange numbness in the game after that melee, with the crowd coming in and out. Fitzgibbon raises the decibel level with a lovely score. Cork 0-24 Tipperary 0-19
57 Mins: Cathal O’Reilly, the right-corner-back, scores from the left-half-forward position. Odd one, but a good score. Cork 0-23 Tipperary 0-18
55 Mins: Eoghan Connolly hits another long free over the bar. Darragh McCarthy comes on for Oisín O’Donoghue to a smattering of boos from the partisan crowd. Cork 0-23 Tipperary 0-17
53 Mins: Lovely one-two between Noel McGrath and Jake Morris, and the former strikes it over well. Brian Hayes drops a shoulder up the other end and clips his first over. Cork 0-23 Tipperary 0-16
52 Mins: Ethan Twomey makes way for Hugh O’Connor. Fitzgibbon taps over a simple score, after a savage pass from an Alan Connolly line ball. Then William Buckley adds another. Cork 0-22 Tipperary 0-15
49 Mins: Great fetch from Rob Downey ahead of John McGrath inside. Then Craig Morgan wanders out into loads of space, but no one is on inside, forcing him to shoot, and his shot is wayward. Cork 0-20 Tipperary 0-15
48 Mins: William Buckley gets a bás to the faceguard, but points anyways. Willie Connors gets a lovely score back, keeping it to five. Noel McGrath on for Josh Keller. Cork 0-20 Tipperary 0-15
46 Mins: Alan Connolly wins a free and pops it over. Eoghan Connolly has a sig from a Tipp free and strikes over. Cork 0-19 Tipperary 0-14
43 Mins: Alan Connolly convers a simple free. Brian Hayes and Tim O’Mahony are on for Micheál Mullins and Declan Dalton for Cork. Eoghan Connolly for Seamus Kennedy on the opposite side. Cork 0-18 Tipperary 0-13
42 Mins: Rob Downey with another lapse, leaving the ball behind for Willie Connors to race through on goal. He fouls the Tipp man as he strikes for goal, but no black card this time. Probably the right call. Cork 0-17 Tipperary 0-13
39 Mins: Bit of mad stuff from Rob Downey, as he’s held up by Conor Stakelum and then he pulls the Tipp man when the ball comes loose. Jake Morris hits the free poorly wide. Willie Connors clears out Cormac O’Brien, but it was a fair hit. Cork 0-17 Tipperary 0-12
36 Mins: Diarmuid Healy gets the first score of the second half. Cormac O’Brien on for the hosts, John McGrath on for the visitors. Mark Coleman and Darragh Stakelum off. Cork 0-17 Tipperary 0-12
Well, those red cards are as clear as mud after the half-time replays...
Denis Walsh has his say on the first half from Cork:
‘A tame - even polite - first half ended in a flare up that lasted the guts of a minute and ultimately involved all 30 players. After a tribunal of inquiry that lasted another three minutes, referee Liam Gordon sent off Shane Barrett from Cork and Jason Forde from Tipperary and booked two other players, one from each side.
With a full minute of normal time - plus stoppage time - to play Gordon elected to blow the half-time whistle and let everyone cool down in the dressing rooms. Cork went in four points in front, 0-16 to 0-12.’
We’ll get a closer look at what really happened there in a couple of minutes, but let’s not forget that there was a really good game of hurling going on before that.
39 Mins: Just a yellow for each for Willie Connors and Alan Connolly. Red card for Tipp; Jason Forde. Red card for Cork; Shane Barrett. Gordon blows the whistle for half-time, and Ben O’Connor and Liam Cahill are both unhappy.
Half-time: Cork 0-16 Tipperary 0-12
37 Mins: Galway referee Liam Gordon has some decisions to make as the row comes to a close. Probably some reds to follow. Cork 0-16 Tipperary 0-12
34 Mins: Big melee over on the left sideline, and everyone is rushing in. You could hear the crowd reacting while the camera was still following the ball. Alan Connolly is getting seconds from the Tipp lads, he seems to be at the centre of it. Cork 0-16 Tipperary 0-12
33 Mins: Johnny Ryan is back on now from his black card. Not sure when that happened because the pace of the game is so fast so far. Shelly takes a long free, but Cork are on top of the breaks now. Cork 0-16 Tipperary 0-12
31 Mins: Super take by Jake Morris under pressure, and then he thwacks it over as the tackle comes in. Mark Coleman respons quickly, but then Seamus Kennedy matches the work of his opposite number. Cork 0-16 Tipperary 0-12
30 Mins: Little bit of pushing and shoving after a heavy tackle by Declan Dalton on Bryan O’Mara. Then Eoin Downey gets a huge score off his left side. Cork 0-15 Tipperary 0-10
27 Mins: Dáire O’Leary does great work to win the ball off Jason Forde, and then Diarmuid Healy gets a score up the other end from it. Cork 0-14 Tipperary 0-10
26 Mins: Cork have identified the mismatch up front, as Bryan O’Mara is struggling with Connolly’s pace. He wins another ball out in front, laying it off for a score. Cork 0-13 Tipperary 0-10
25 Mins: What a ball from Micheál Mullins from a sideline. Alan Connolly gets off another shot under little pressure, and scores again. When the ball comes back in, he’s free as a bird again, and taps it over. Cork 0-12 Tipperary 0-10
23 Mins: Forde smashes a free from his own half over the bar. Cork 0-10 Tipperary 0-10
22 Mins: Jason Forde points a free, his first of the night. Cork 0-10 Tipperary 0-9
21 Mins: What a score by Willie Connors, scrapping for the ball, then flicking it mid-air to his hand, and pointing from halfway. Cork 0-10 Tipperary 0-8
20 Mins: Seamus Kennedy does really well to draw in players, leaving space for Conor Stakelum, who he picks out for a handy point. At the other end, Eoin Downey storms through for a score. Cork 0-10 Tipperary 0-7
18 Mins: Save by Shelly! Dalton’s effort goes right down the middle. Fitzgibbon eventually gets a point to take a positive for Cork. Cork 0-9 Tipperary 0-6
17 Mins: The pace of Alan Connolly gives him tonnes of space to fire over another point, four -n-a-row for Cork now.
Penalty for Cork! Shane Barrett is tugged down as he bears down on goal! Black card for Johnny Ryan. Cork 0-8 Tipperary 0-6
14 Mins: Alan Connolly scores the first pointed free of the night. There’s a bit of scrappiness in the game so far, with both teams making errors, but it’s a good tussle so far. Shane Barrett makes a typical run through the backline, and Cork take the lead. Cork 0-7 Tipperary 0-6
12 Mins: Last year’s U20 captain Sam O’Farrell gets a great point from out wide for Tipp, but William Buckley responds quickly for the hosts. Cork 0-5 Tipperary 0-6
11 Mins: Big goal chance for Cork! Dalton was free inside and Fitzgibbon picked him out with a perfectly weighted pass, but Dalton’s batted shot drifted wide. Craig Morgan puts the Premier County back in front. Cork 0-4 Tipperary 0-5
10 Mins: Super pass from Rob Downey, in behind for Darragh Fitzgibbons, who cuts inside and scores. Cork 0-4 Tipperary 0-4
9 Mins: Misses at both ends from Andrew Ormond and Ethan Twomey. William Buckley and Cathal O’Reilly are having some good battles for possession so far. Diarmuid Healy then gets Cork going again with a score. Cork 0-3 Tipperary 0-4
7 Mins: Tipp have a sweeper in, as in the All-Ireland final last year. They’re doing a good job of keeping the Rebels’ inside-forwards off the ball so far. Cork 0-2 Tipperary 0-4
5 Mins: Andrew Ormond gets a handy one off a poor Cork puckout. Then he adds another. Cork 0-2 Tipperary 0-4
4 Mins: Tipp get the first half-sniff of a goal, but Oisín O’Donoghue pops it over. Lovely pass from Darragh Stakelum in the build-up. Fitzgibbon gets Cork’s first of the evening. Then Coleman horses a point over from the sideline as well.
Cork 0-2 Tipperary 0-2
2 Mins: Rob Downey is stripped of possession and Jake Morris taps it over under little pressure. Cork 0-0 Tipperary 0-1
1 Mins: Early balls into both forward-lines are won by the backs. Some early handling errors by both teams, but the pitch is in great nick. Jason Forde has the first shot from a free in his own half, but drops it well short. Cork 0-0 Tipperary 0-0
The anthem is finished now so we’re ready to go!
Denis Walsh is in a packed Páirc Uí Chaoimh for tonight’s match:
‘No late changes to either team as Cork and Tipp meet for the first time since last July’s convulsive All-Ireland final. Cork’s line-up includes 10 players who started that game, while Tipp have seven. On a perfect, breathless, dry, evening a crowd in excess of 30,000 is expected in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.’
So far this year, Liam Cahill’s side have seen off Galway and battered 1A newcomers Offaly, while Ben O’Connor’s charges also won against the Tribesmen, as well as outclassing Waterford.
No changes to either side before throw-in.
With under 15 minutes until throw-in, it could be a good time to refresh your memory on the last big meeting of these Munster giants. Cork took a six-point lead into half time in the All-Ireland final, but as Seán Moran wrote on the day, ‘what actually happened defied explanation, let alone foresight’, as Tipperary romped home to win by 15 points.
[Darragh McCarthy’s redemption song soundtracks extraordinary Tipperary All-Ireland victory over Cork]
With both sides scoring freely so far in the league, Gordon Manning writes that we should look forward to a ‘shooting masterclass’ tonight.
[Páirc Uí Chaoimh set for sharpshooting masterclass between Cork and Tipperary]
Wexford go up to first in the NHL Division 1B table provisionally, with their third win in a row.
Full-time: Wexford 2-28 Carlow 1-21
And here’s the Premier County’s starting 15.
Here’s the Cork lineup for tonight’s match, subject to late changes.
Despite the poor weather throughout the week, a big crowd is expected on the banks of the Lee tonight, reports Gordon Manning.
[Crowd of over 25,000 expected for Saturday night’s league meeting of Cork and Tipperary]
Seán Moran looks ahead to the weekend’s action in his previews.
[Hurling previews: Cork have bit between their teeth for visit of Tipperary]
Division 1B, half-time: Wexford 1-14 Carlow 1-11
Ben O’Connor has enjoyed a good start as Cork manager, with back-to-back wins in Division 1A. His predecessor, Pat Ryan, spoke to Denis Walsh about what he called ‘the worst year of his life’ last year, after the passing of his brother Ray, as well as discussing his decision to step away from the job having come so close to clinching Liam McCarthy. Ryan resigned after leading Cork to two All-Ireland finals and a Munster championship victory.
While all eyes will be on Munster tonight, there’s a few games around the country. In Division 1B, Fiachra Fitzpatrick has hit the back of the net for Carlow to level things at 1-5 each in Wexford Park.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Cork vs Tipperary in the NHL Division 1A. The two finalists from last year’s All-Ireland face off in front of an expected crowd of more than 25,000 in Cork. Tipperary’s second-half comeback was one of the sporting stories of the summer last year, so the Rebels will be seeking out a small bit of revenge tonight. Throw-in is at 7.30pm.
