Cork vs Tipp

[bottlethrower7]

Well if anything is gonna bring the Tipp lads out of hibernation it'll be that result from saturday.

I ended up at this game after misjudging the start time of the Dublin-Offaly game (3pm on a saturday is a stupid time for any game), and have to say I was most pleasantly surprised by what went on. Not necessarily just Cork being beaten, but the standard and intensity of the fare on show. Who knew that Tipperary would save their best performance in at least 5 years for a day when they were missing one of their greatest ever hurlers?

After 15 minutes it looked like this was gonna be a hammering for Tipp. They looked lethargic and lacking in any kind of ideas. The only player making any inroads in the forward line was Benny Dunne, but that was only when standing shoulder to shoulder with Curran. When he drifted, Curran's magnetic hand dominated the show. Tipp's naive tactic of picking Micheal Webster backfired in more ways than one. Not only did the rock eat him alive but his presence seemed to be an invitation for Tipp to lob in high ball whenever they got a chance. None of the other forwards were getting a look in at all.

The goal definitely changed the game, and was slightly fortuitous. It was a lovely first touch by Lar Corbett, moreso given the conditions, and his ball to the very impressive Willie Ryan was perfection. Donal Og was truly rattled all game and it looked like one of those days when he was going to struggle under any ball that came his way. When is the last time anyone saw a keeper pull first time on an incoming ball the way he did in the second half? A major no-no for any keeper.

The platform for this Tipp performance was set up by Declan Fanning at 3 and Conor O'Mahony at 6, coupled with some woeful play by Cork's forwards. Fanning was majestic throughout, though his performance wasn't without its flaws. He was poor for the Cork goal, and probably unsurprisingly so given how he failed to deal with a couple of high balls in the first half. One in particular he actually waited for his man to miss the ball, which he didn't, rather than challenge. That's something you'd rarely see in a junior B game. Overall though I'd have put him down as having given a man-of-the-match performance.

Even at half-time I couldn't see Tipp winning this game. They had fought back well but were getting little from their forwards. Though all their scores had come from play (I think) at that stage, they were limited to long-range shooting. Seamus Butler's ratio of scores to shots was starting to look worrying. I'm not sure at what point things changed for Tipp's forwards, or why they changed when they did. Maybe it was Lar Corbett outsprinting Shane Murphy for a ball, despite starting 5 yards behind him. Maybe it was the Rock's stupid follow-through on Willie Ryan. Maybe, and I think more likely, it was the introduction of Darragh Egan and John Carroll, who really steeled things up up front. Egan in particular was far better than the one-dimensional Webster. His score from the sideline was the score of the game I reckon.

The second Tipp goal was calamitous from a Cork point of view. Shane Murphy looks a fine hurler, but hes very slow. Willie Ryan wouldn't be the paciest in the world, but even he figured he'd have a go at him. It was a poor enough shot that should have been saved, though then again maybe Donal Og was expecting a blaster. That can often happen a keeper.

Eamonn Corcoran was imperious in the second half for Tipp, which is amazing considering I though him a liability to them in the first half. His first half performance was awful and he was making Cronin look like a star. The new Tipp backs did very well too. I was well impressed with Alan Byrne and the Burgess lad down the left side. I thought Daragh Hickey showed some lovely touches. He looks to be a fine hurler and will shape up as a fine Tipp player in the future.

Cork didn't like it when it was put up to them physically. They were excellent for 20 mins or so. Their support play was amazing during that spell and their half-back line was commanding. Once Benny Dunne, followed by Lar Corbett, decided to take on Ronan Curran man for man, Tipp started eating into that dominance. Dunne in particular deserves a lot of credit (lets be hearing you on that one HOH!!). Cork's full-back line started well but started to fade a bit. They surely have better options that Murphy at corner back? The Rock was grand until Egan came on and started to hurl him. Cork's midfield started well but faded badly. The introduction of Tom Kenny did make a slight difference but it was too little too late really. Cork's forwards were very poor. They are still playing players who do not look up to that level. Neil Ronan tried, but just isn't good enough. Both Kieran Murphy's contribute little from play. Ben O'Connor can't be relied on, though does pop up from time to time with the odd gem. Joe Deane was very good, but some of his touches and moves were a little too clever for his team-mates. His 'step-over' in the first half, where he let the ball run on to Cronin was pure class. Cronin is a real find, but hes still too raw to be able to lead the Cork attack through a crisis like the one they experienced on saturday.

Overall Tipp can be very satisfied with this. They hurled well. They hurled with great intensity. They didn't panic when the writing looked to be on the wall for them.

Now, what odds on a no-show for Tipp against Wexford and the shock result of the championship?

Oh, and if Tipp have any aspirations in advancing further in the championship, they have to reinstate Brendan Cummins. Kennedy looks dodgy as hell and certainly doesn't look to be inspiring confidence in his back line. His striking was very poor, particularly on the frees that he came out to take (which was bizarre in itself as Eamon Corcorcan could have hit them) which he seemed to top. Maybe it was the wet ball but I couldn't imagine Cummins striking the ball that poorly.

[the ship]

from reading your report of the match it was that cork were poor and tipp were lucky on the night, how painful it must have been for you to have to sit through a tipp victory. eamon corcoran hurled well all day and not just in the second half as for gerry kennedy he has done very well since he came in. it was a great victory for tipp and what makes us proud of our boys was the spirit they showed and as to your  snide remarks about a shock victory for wexford who knows?
     

[Punxsutawney Fergal]

Was at the game, all credit to Tipp for a good performance but Cork really didn't show up on the day. As a Wexford man I am delighted that Tipp won as a hammering from Cork in the quarters was on the cards for us. Tipp are not a good team but I still think they will have a couple of points to spare over us. Looks like it worked out well for Kilkenny, all they need to do is play to their best in one game to win an All-Ireland.

[bottlethrower7]

from reading your report of the match it was that cork were poor and tipp were lucky on the night, how painful it must have been for you to have to sit through a tipp victory. eamon corcoran hurled well all day and not just in the second half as for gerry kennedy he has done very well since he came in. it was a great victory for tipp and what makes us proud of our boys was the spirit they showed and as to your  snide remarks about a shock victory for wexford who knows?
     

read it properly before you embarrass yourself again with stupid comments like that.

Corcoran was terrible in the first half. Kennedy is a dodgy keeper.

[the ship]

your the one embarrassing yourself saying you were plesantly surprised with what you saw and you originally were going to watch dublin and offally. what did you think you were going to see.
bye the way talking about goalkeepers it was a pass from one of the cork backs and he did the right thing as one of the tipp forwards was right on top of him.   

[bottlethrower7]

your the one embarrassing yourself saying you were plesantly surprised with what you saw and you originally were going to watch dublin and offally. what did you think you were going to see.

the truth? I expected the Dublin-Offaly game to be the more competitive game. I can hold my hands up and admit I was wrong, but even the most die-hard Tipp fan couldn't have seen that one coming. Or maybe you're the exception? Lemmie guess, you expected Tipp to beat Cork?

[the ship]

i was hoping we would win, not overly confident that we would but more hoping for a good performance which we got in buckets.   

[Billys Boots]

The platform for this Tipp performance was set up by Declan Fanning at 3 and Conor O'Mahony at 6, coupled with some woeful play by Cork's forwards. Fanning was majestic throughout, though his performance wasn't without its flaws. He was poor for the Cork goal, and probably unsurprisingly so given how he failed to deal with a couple of high balls in the first half. One in particular he actually waited for his man to miss the ball, which he didn't, rather than challenge. That's something you'd rarely see in a junior B game. Overall though I'd have put him down as having given a man-of-the-match performance.

it was a great victory for tipp and what makes us proud of our boys was the spirit they showed

Well I know which account I'd prefer to read. 

[AZOffaly]

Up the walls here at work, so didn't get a chance to post on this, but well done to Tipp, and I agree with almost everything BT has said. There wasn't 30,000 Tipp fans there which suggests not many others expected anything other that a Cork win, and with the boy wonder out as well, it was odds on a big Cork win I'd have thought. Cork and Tipp are stange encounters though, and in fairness to Tipp they hurled up a storm after a very anaemic first 20 minutes. I was impressed with the new lads, and I think Tipp are certainly a team to watch over the next couple of years. Good to see Lar Corbett emerge from his shell a bit, and with Willie Ryan also looking like he can take a score, Eoin Kelly may just begin to get a bit more room. I also though hugh Maloney and Seamus Butler had a good game in the middle of the field, but it was open enough out there. A good few scores came from both sets of 8s and 9s.

Delighted to see Conor O'Mahoney step up to the mark as well, but I think Niall McCarthy would have caused him more problems in his all round dynamic style.

Anyway, good summary BT7, and a great weekend for Tipp, and the hurling championship. Biggest losers of all could be Waterford, who must be rubbing their eyes in disbelief at who awaits them in the quarter final.

[the ship]

games against limerick the attendance was 30,000 each time, so to expect 30,000 tipp supporters to turn up last saturday night is a bit optimistic surely.   

[AZOffaly]

If Tipp fans thought they had a good team, they'd be turning up. It's a home game after all against their traditional rivals from the Lee. The blood and bandages is usually enough to get Tipp roaring, but I think the bandwagon people of Tipp don't have much hope, at least until Sunday Morning, of anything from this Tipp team and Babs in particualr.

That's not a knock on Tipp fans by the way, every county in the country has the same thing, but it does suggest that the performance and result came as a surprise to most.

[bottlethrower7]

games against limerick the attendance was 30,000 each time, so to expect 30,000 tipp supporters to turn up last saturday night is a bit optimistic surely.   

if it was a munster final and not a qualifier I'm sure they'd have found the numbers from somewhere. Tipp have never struggled to play their part in sell-out munster finals against Cork in the past, so I don't see why its such a stretch of the imagination to think there should have been far more there on saturday.

There should have been more Cork too, but I suppose the combined factors of their assumption of a sure thing, the weather (and having to travel up from Cork in it)  and the TV coverage might explain their poor turnout somewhat.

[bottlethrower7]

bye the way talking about goalkeepers it was a pass from one of the cork backs and he did the right thing as one of the tipp forwards was right on top of him.   

missed this before. I totally disagree with this. The right thing to do would have been to catch the ball and move out the side with it.

[GalteeMountainBoy]

A massive massive win.

I never saw it coming, and haven't really earthed yet after it. Its nights like last Saturday that keep you going in this crazy f*cked up world.

Two things struck me as I passed the four boys looking down from Barrett's gable on the way in on Saturday; firstly, we had the hurling to see off most teams and to make a game of it with anyone, what we didn't have heretofore was the bit of Hell's Kitchen that you need to add sauce to the dish. What Bobby Ryan and Colm Bonner would have made out of that bell-end Carton after his dentistry in Parnell Park the weekend before, wouldn't have been Marquis of Queensbury. This Tipp team had had enough sand kicked in its eyes. Time for the men to show up with the hurlers.

Secondly I felt if men like Seamie Butler and Willie Ryan clocked in to post a big time performance we wouldn't be too far off Cork. One of the most positive things about our six game run has been that the likes of Seamie Butler, Willie Ryan, Dec Fanning have not only upped things in terms of performance but have emerged in leadership roles. With the amount of first teamers unavailable to Babs throughout this season, its been a hell of an achievement to keep things on the rails.

The game itself, we got the worst possible start, the temptation will be (particularly by those who weren't there) to lionise this Tipp performance form start to finish, truth is we were fairly shoddy in the first quarter, guys like Shane Maher and Alan Byrne were getting a baptism of fire. After Cork's first surge, one very significant thing happened; after being lost in the wilderness of mediocrity for so long, Benny Dunne showed up and started to hand Ronan Curran his arse on a plate. In the great tradition of Tipp centre forwards of days gone by, the surging run through the middle was back, Willie could have had a goal at the Town End.

Then Fanning really started to get on top of Kieran Murphy (whats his handle Fraggle or something?) the entire hafl back line upped it, Butler opened up as well. Our first goal was a nice example of human resource managment, somebody call in the Smurfit School and get them in to write up a case-study. A case of each person combining each person's individual expertise. Corbett with the expert pass, Webster with the well timed mullock, and Willie Ryan with the finish.

Advantage was back with us, Cork had surrendered a decent head start, and Tipp matched them point for point, Larry's final first half point form out near the Old Stand sideline being the pick of them.

Second half saw Brian Murphy come on, just to put this in perspective, when you look at the fire power Cork prised from the bench, Murphy, T McCarthy, Kenny and Naughton, when the chips were down Gerald fired everything at this. Our second goal was a Toome 1-2, I thought Benny did very well to retain possession, great pass, and Willie took his chance well.

We charged on to go six up, my own personal favourites in this period, being young Darragh Hickey's plucky score, and Darragh Egan's point from another Benny Dunne pass. The damage that Benny Dunne and also Larry Corbett exacted on that Cork half back line was something else, something no one not even the most partisan Tipp suuporter couild have predicted.
It was squeaky bum time for awhile after the Cork goal, Ronan did well, real poacher's  effort, those Town End goalposts are cursed for Tipp keepers against Cork.

We held on, and closed it out, I never thought we could but we did. The backs were magnificent, John Carroll had a marvellous cameo pawing balls away from Sean Og, horsing into Gardiner and taking the winning point.

So many discussion points arising, chief among them, can we ever be as good again?. Well to go back to the start of the post, I had no doubt as to whether or niot we had the hurling, we now have shown we have the guts as well. A fair few selection headaches now arise.  

But to bastardise Bowie, at least we were heroes, just for one day.

[the ship]

bye the way talking about goalkeepers it was a pass from one of the cork backs and he did the right thing as one of the tipp forwards was right on top of him.   

missed this before. I totally disagree with this. The right thing to do would have been to catch the ball and move out the side with it.

no the right thing to do was give it a lash as he would have been closed down by the tipp forwards. look if it was a  final even dublin or offaly might fill it or maybe not.