Tipp rediscover their mojo to defeat Cork
Munster Senior Hurling Championship Round 1
Cork 1-24
Tipperary 2-28
Tipperary produced a superb team performance too get their Munster Championship campaign off to the ideal start with a seven point victory over Cork at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
Goals in either half from Seamus Callanan and John McGrath were the key scores as Liam Sheedy’s men earned some level of redemption following last years championship struggles.
2-24 from play was a notable stat but all over the field Tipperary were hungry for the battle and every set-back they suffered they responded well, while also forcing Cork out of their rhythm from early on.
Tipperary got off to a blistering start despite Seamus Harnedy firing Cork into an early lead as Niall O’Meara played in Seamus Callanan and as the Cork defence backed off, the skipper ran onto fire to the net.
The visitors were hugely alert early on as the put the Cork short puckout under pressure with yielded a free for Jason Forde and a John O’Dwyer point.
Cork hit back with a Pat Horgan free, the first of eight in the half as the Tipp defence got on the wrong side of the referee although some of the calls were marginal to say the least.
At the other end, the ball was flowing better for Tipp with Noel McGrath conducting much of the early good play and they opened a 1-5 to 0-3 lead after nine minutes with John & Noel McGrath (2) on target.
Two more Horgan frees followed as John McGrath almost ghosted in for a goal but Anthony Nash got down to block but John O’Dwyer and the excellent Callanan (2) opened up a six-point lead on seventeen minutes.
However, Cork found their rhythm with Shane Kingston landing a long range point before two frees from Horgan, Lehane and a Horgan point from play brought Cork back on terms by the 24th minute.
Tipp had lost their way a little but were given a chance to charge again two minutes later when Niall O’Meara was impeded by Cork’s Niall O’Leary and was awarded penalty, however, Anthony Nash got low to his right to turn away Jason Forde’s shot.
Cork got their noses in front with another Horgan (2, 1 free) and Conor Lehane but each time Tipp hit back through John O’Dwyer, Michael Breen and a Forde free.
Padraic Maher and Seamus Callanan landed fine scores before Horgan landed a wind assisted 100 yard free to reduce the margin to the minimum at half time, 0-15 to 1-13 in Tipperary’s favour.
With the aid of the breeze in the second half, Tipp began strongly to not give Cork any momentum with John O’Dwyer and Jason Forde both on target from play.
Tipp’s discipline was much better in the second half, conceding just five frees, two of which resulted in frees for Horgan, who added three more from play for a haul of fourteen points.
However, Tipp answered anything Cork threw at them with scores flowing a lot easier through the hard working Niall O’Meara and Patrick Maher, Seamus Callanan and two from the superb Brendan Maher.
Shane Kingston was a threat for Cork and he pointed but was cancelled out by Tipp’s Jason Forde before the crucial second goal came on 50 minutes with a low John McGrath shot finding the net following a fizzing pass from John O’Dwyer.
Tipp had chances to pull away but hit four wides in quick succession as two frees from Horgan and a Robbie O’Flynn, Tim O’Mahoney and Kingston point kept Cork within striking distance.
Tipp did managed to get the radar working again with Ronan Maher, Noel McGrath and Brendan Maher before Cork game themselves hope on 66 minutes when Seamus Harnedy goaled.
However, Tipp answered it straight away with O’Dwyer catching a pointing the next puckout with Noel McGrath adding a 65 as the six point lead was restored although Cork were frustrated by some calls that didn’t go their way late on.
Seamus Callanan and John O’Dwyer brought their tallies to 1-4 and 0-7 from play respectively in added time as Tipp sealed a hugely impressive victory.
The only negative from the performance was an apparent hamstring injury to Niall O’Meara which forced him off in the second half and makes him a doubt for next Sunday’s round 2 clash with Waterford at Semple Stadium.
MATCH DIGEST
Man of the Match: John O’Dwyer (Tipperary)
SCORERS – Cork: Pat Horgan 0-14 (10 frees); Seamus Harnedy 1-2; Conor Lehane, Shane Kingston 0-3 each; Tim O’Mahony, Robbie O’Flynn 0-1 each.
Tipperary: John O’Dwyer 0-7; Seamus Callanan 1-4; Jason Forde 0-5 (3 frees); Noel McGrath 0-4 (1 65); John McGrath 1-1; Brendan Maher 0-2; Ronan Maher, Padraic Maher, Michael Breen, Niall O’Meara, Patrick Maher 0-1 each.
TEAMS – Cork: Anthony Nash; Sean O’Donoghue, Eoin Cadogan, Niall O’Leary; Christopher Joyce, Tim O’Mahony, Mark Coleman; Darragh Fitzgibbon; Luke Meade; Daniel Kearney, Pat Horgan, Robbie O’Flynn; Conor Lehane, Seamus Harnedy, Shane Kingston.
Subs: Damien Cahalane for Joyce (44); Aidan Walsh for O’Flynn (60); Declan Dalton for Kearney (65); Jack O’Connor for Kingston (69);
Tipperary: Brian Hogan; Cathal Barrett, James Barry, Sean O’Brien; Brendan Maher, Ronan Maher, Padraic Maher; Noel McGrath, Michael Breen; Patrick Maher, John O’Dwyer, Niall O’Meara, John McGrath, Jason Forde, Seamus Callanan (Capt).
Subs: Dan McCormack for Breen (49); Jake Morris for Forde (55); Willie Connors for O’Meara (63 inj); Mark Kehoe for Patrick Maher (66); Cian Darcy for N McGrath (69).
Referee: Sean Cleere (Kilkenny)
Attendance: 30,274
Full analysis of the victory in next Wednesday's Guardian