Tipperary 0-22 Cork 0-13

Watched by a 29,114 crowd, Tipperary had too much class and intelligence for a limp Cork at a rain-drenched Semple Stadium this afternoon, writes John Fogarty.

A Munster quarter-final to forget, Cork were 11 points down at one stage early in the second half before they staged an all-too-brief rally.

Tipperary managed to go 16 minutes without scoring the second half. It meant little even though Cork strung together four points in a row in that period.

Tipperary hardly managed to get out of third gear but what they did was too good for Cork who suffered a systematic malfunction akin to what was seen here in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final against Galway.

Goal chances were few and far between but there was enough quality from the Tipperary forwards on a day when the likes of Seamus Harnedy and Pa Horgan were reduced to relatively anonymous roles.

Cork surprisingly chose to face the wind in the first half and soon found themselves in arrears as Tipperary negated Cork’s sweeper William Egan by splitting balls to the sidelines for their full-forward to chase.

Six yellow cards, three doubles, were shown in the opening period with Cathal Barrett and Bill Cooper fortunate not to pick up red cards for interfering with each other’s helmet. Barry Kelly also chose not to penalise John O’Dwyer for an off-the-ball incident involving Lorcán McLoughlin although O’Dwyer was later booked.

Through a barrage of heavy downfalls, it was Tipperary and O’Dwyer who looked so much sharper. Three beautiful points in the space of two minutes, the last of them coming courtesy of O’Dwyer from an acute angle, gave the home side a 0-7 to 0-1 lead after 16 minutes.

Cork threatened to steady themselves with a Horgan free and a Brian Lawton point from distance but Tipperary resumed normal service and hit four in a row to lead by 0-12 to 0-4.

A Horgan free in the 33rd minute ended a 10-minute spell without a score for Cork but it was the brilliant O’Dwyer who finished out the half with a brace of points to hand Tipperary a 0-14 to 0-5 interval advantage.

Scorers for Tipperary: S. Callanan (0-8, 4 frees); J. O’Dwyer (0-7, 2 frees, 1 65); N. McGrath (0-2); Pádraic Maher, B. Maher, J. McGrath, J. Forde, K. Bergin (0-1 each).

Scorers for Cork: A. Cadogan (0-4); P. Horgan (0-3, frees); C. Lehane (0-2, 1 free); B. Lawton, C. Murphy, S. Harnedy, L. O’Farrell (0-1 each).

TIPPERARY: D. Gleeson; C. Barrett, J. Barry, M. Cahill; S. Kennedy, R. Maher, Pádraic Maher; B. Maher (c), M. Breen; S. Curran, D. McCormack, N. McGrath; J. O’Dwyer, S. Callanan, J. McGrath.

Subs for Tipperary: J. Forde for N. McGrath (53); Patrick Maher for S. Curran (56); N. O’Meara for J. O’Dwyer, K. Bergin for M. Breen (both 64).

CORK: A. Nash; D. Cahalane, M. Ellis, C. O’Sullivan; L. McLoughlin, C. Joyce, C. Murphy; D. Kearney, W. Egan; B. Cooper, C. Lehane, B. Lawton; A. Cadogan, S. Harnedy (c), P. Horgan.

Subs for Cork: A. Walsh for D. Kearney (32); K. Burke for C. O’Sullivan (41); L. O’Farrell for P. Horgan (54); J. Cronin for B. Cooper (59).

Referee: B Kelly (Westmeath).