On a long fuse the flame never reached the gelignite. Tipperary staged a posthumous comeback after the game had been lost, but the champions were a hologram of the team that had won such a spectacular All-Ireland nine months ago. This time, Cork didn’t crack or blink or fall in a heap.
Like a new stock on Wall Street, the market will ultimately decide the value of this win. For Cork’s mentality, though, there was a huge premium on standing up to the imperatives of the day. Two weeks after losing the league final, and a week before they welcome Limerick to Páirc Uí Chaoimh, they couldn’t afford an outcome that raised more awkward questions, or that might contain visible traces of flakiness.
Instead, they imposed their superiority during a blistering period in the middle of the second half when they took the game away from Tipperary. In the end the margin was only four points, 0-29 to 1-22, but Tipp more than doubled their second-half tally with a flurry of punches in the closing minutes.
The All-Ireland champions led for the last time eight minutes after the break and found themselves nine points down just 16 minutes later. In that time, Cork crucified Tipp on their own puckouts. The traction that Tipp had enjoyed in their half-forward line in last year’s All-Ireland final never materialised here, and the supply lines to their inside forwards were cut.
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John McGrath, who had tormented Cork in Croke Park at the end of his halcyon season as Hurler of the Year, was withdrawn midway through the second half with just one point and one miss to his name, utterly disarmed by Ciarán Joyce.
There was always a risk that the spectacle would be smothered by overhanging analysis from last year’s All-Ireland final. Since last July, everybody had too much time to think. Tipp had dictated the tactical shape of last year’s final, not just with a sweeper but with astute matchups that disturbed Cork.
This time, Cork seized that source of energy. None of Cork’s defenders was assigned to the same player they had marked in Croke Park. Four of them weren’t even playing on the same line. Did that make Cork more secure at the back? Either Tipperary didn’t ask the right questions, or Cork had the answers this time.
One of Tipp’s mid-game switches had an unintended consequence that cost them dearly. Rob Downey had spent the first half marking young Stefan Tobin on his championship debut, which meant that the Cork number six was on the periphery of the game and sometimes playing as a de facto corner back.
But when Tobin was replaced by Darragh McCarthy at half-time, Niall O’Leary was detailed to pick him up and Downey took up his preferred position at centre back. From there, he was the most influential figure in the third quarter, dominating Andrew Ormond in the air, and acting as a clearing house for Cork possession inside their own half.
Other fundamental stuff flipped in Cork’s favour too. In the All-Ireland final last year, they had coughed up a crippling 3-15 from turnovers; this time, Tipperary conceded 0-17 from turnovers. It was a vital manifestation of the bite Cork had been cultivating during the league.
It was present in the ground war, but also in the air. The Downey brothers made some spectacular catches, but Cork put a huge emphasis on attacking the dropping ball with the hurley and pouncing on the scraps. Cork were wired to win the second balls.
Tipperary had no coherent answers. They didn’t play with a sweeper this time, but the goal threat that had energised their All-Ireland campaign, and had torpedoed Cork in Croke Park, was non-existent. When Alan Tynan found the corner of the Cork net in the final minute of normal time it was their first shot at goal.
When Tipp came under intense pressure in the middle of the second half, nothing was stable. Willie Connors hit a sideline cut that weaved out of play 30 metres from where he struck it; Michael Breen caught the ball three times while he was trying to escape a posse of Cork pursuers. The ball retention in their forward line collapsed. The ground was cut from under their feet.
In total they had just 17 shots from play in the game, 14 fewer than Cork; in the league, anything can be explained away, but in a championship game that is a massive disparity. Tipp didn’t commit their first wide of the second half until the 65th minute, which would normally be good news. But they weren’t scoring either; they simply weren’t getting shots away.
One of the features of Tipp’s All-Ireland last year was Liam Cahill’s trust in young players. This time, Cork played that hand. Barry Walsh was withdrawn from the Cork under-20s for their game during the week, a decision that divided opinion locally, but he was terrific. He was turned over for two of Tipp’s points early on, but he recovered from those reverses to score four points from play in a performance of perpetual menace.
The other debutant in the Cork attack, William Buckley was the man of the match, just as he had been in the All-Ireland minor final of 2021, and the under-20 final two years later. His breakthrough has been a long time coming, but he scored five sweet points from play without a miss and played the scoring pass for two others.
Cork needed some players without scars. The healing continues.
