No advantage in cagey encounter

ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION ONE Cork 1-14 Tipperary 1-14:THIS WAS such a cagey match that even Ben O'Connor, Cork's most reliable of sharpshooters, couldn't separate the teams from a dead-ball opportunity in the very last seconds.

Even as the home voices among a decent crowd of 7,782 began to roar approval his free – awkwardly angled but well within his compass – came back off the post and was swept up by the Tipperary defenders.

It brought about the fairest result to a match in which both teams were clearly in self-discovery mode and which in all likelihood ends their ambitions of adding to their haul of league silverware this year.

Of more immediate concern to the All-Ireland champions was the first-half injury to Paddy Stapleton, who joins Brendan Maher on Tipperary’s extensive injury list. The Borrisoleigh man collapsed in a heap after Cork’s towering forward Michael Cussen crashed through him on his way to making a spectacular catch. There was nothing malicious about the collision – in fact, the resultant free went to the Cork men – but Stapleton took a hard knock to the back of his head.

“Paddy is gone to hospital,” Declan Ryan confirmed as he stood outside the Tipperary dressingroom afterwards. “Provisional examination shows he might have some whip damage but we don’t know the extent of it yet. The injuries are piling up. We are heading to Galway now and we are going to use it as preparation for the championship.

“All of these games are better than training. I think the second half wasn’t far off championship intensity and I think we can be happy enough with the way our guys stuck to the task even after John O’Brien got sent off.”

O’Brien’s dismissal for a second yellow card after he became entangled with the excellent Eoin Cadogan, occurred with just two minutes left and Tipperary defending a one-point lead. A period of open play had flared immediately after half-time, with Luke Farrell finding the net for Cork after Brendan Cummins managed to block Cian McCarthy’s initial strike. Cork followed that with a beautiful point from Cathal Naughton but the daylight wasn’t long closing: Benny Dunne goaled for Tipperary in the 41st minute after a direct run at the Cork goal and then Pa Bourke scored a 65 to level the scores again.

“Yeah, Benny got a great goal there,” Ryan said. “It was very important from a management point of view to see that kind of response. Whether we are out of contention or not, we are going to be trying our best for the next two games. This day eight weeks we are playing championship and that is the focal point for us.”

Gearóid Ryan had a strong match at midfield for Tipperary and in addition to his goal, Dunne landed a fine first-half point and took some heavy challenges over the afternoon.

Noel McGrath exhibited his trademark vision and sweet touch in an understated performance but as a unit, Tipperary’s attack never fully motored. Lar Corbett had an exceptionally quiet afternoon, one of three starting forwards who did not score from play. And it wasn’t as if they were squandering chances: just five wides in the match, four of those from well struck attempts from deep (including a free and 65) by Pa Bourke. But they were stout in defence, with Pádraic Maher a dominant figure at number six, particularly after Stapleton’s departure.

The Cork attack fired sporadically also. The quest to convert Tom Kenny into a right-half forward was not greatly advanced by today’s evidence, as the Grenagh man had to content himself with scrapping on the fringes rather than making a more explosive impact from deep in the midfield.

Cork’s forward thrust came from familiar sources, Cadogan and John Gardiner, who worked a wonderfully fly first-half point from a free for Ronan Curran to land, a piece of improvisation which caught Tipp nodding.

Jamie Nagle, making his full league debut as a late replacement for Brian Murphy, enjoyed an auspicious start, holding his own patch of ground and sweeping across the Cork half-back line when required. Stephen McDonnell had a comfortable afternoon at corner back for the home team.

Cian McCarthy finished with three fine points to his name, including an excellent sideline cut, while Pa Cronin grew more authoritative at midfield as the game wore on, claiming a puck-out from Donal Óg Cusack and landing an excellent point in the 44th minute – which once again gave the home team a narrow lead, 1-9 to 1-8 at this stage.

But crisp, quick scores like that were rare. Everything was contested and much was scrappy. The exchanges heated up in the second half, with Jerry O’Connor’s cracking point on 50 minutes – a clean, low drive from 70 metres after a quick flick from Pa Cronin – perhaps the highlight of the day.

As the minutes ticked on, the match tightened up and Bill Cooper won a free in front of the stand which set O’Connor up for a last-gasp crack at victory.

CORK: D Óg Cusack; S McDonnell, E Cadogan, S Murphy; J Gardiner (0-2, frees), R Curran (0-1), J Nagle; L McLoughlin, P Cronin (0-1); T Kenny, C McCarthy (0-3, 0-1 sideline), C Naughton (0-1); B O'Connor (0-4, frees), M Cussen, L Farrell (1-1). Subs: J O'Connor (0-1) for McLoughlin (33 mins), N McCarthy for Naughton (54 mins), P Horgan for Kenny (55 mins), P O'Sullivan for Cussen (59 mins), B Cooper for McCarthy (66 mins).

TIPPERARY: B Cummins; P Stapleton, P Curran, M Cahill; J O'Keeffe, Pa Maher, D Young; G Ryan (0-1), S McGrath; B Dunne (1-2), N McGrath (0-3), P Maher; S Bourke, P Bourke (0-6, 0-3 frees, 0-2 65s), L Corbett. Subs: E Connolly for Stapleton (15 mins, inj), B O'Meara (0-1) for S Bourke (half-time), J O'Brien (0-1) for P Maher (53 mins), M Gleeson for S McGrath (62 mins), J Coghlan for Young (69 mins).

Referee: M Wadding(Waterford).