![\"Tim](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5047139_7_articleinline_94537_2938525.jpg\" "\\"Tim")
Tim O’Mahony of Cork and Jake Morris of Tipperary clash on Sunday. Picture: INPHO\/James Lawlor<\/p>\nRedemption Sunday in Thurles for a bunch of Cork hurlers hell bent in consigning some of recent events to history.<\/p>\n
Prior to this trip to Thurles, last season’s All-Ireland final collapse and an indifferent league final display featured heavily in some conversations. All that really mattered was the here and now, the opening day of a brand new championship campaign against the best team in the country last season in their own backyard.<\/p>\n
\n There’s never a future in the past. Dwelling on it for too long can further erode the lost confidence. You simply have to move on.\n <\/p>\n
And that’s exactly what Cork did against Tipperary. Any lingering doubts about their ability firmly erased.<\/p>\n
There were just four points in it at the final whistle but there wasn’t a dissenting voice in the 44,000-plus attendance. The better team had won on this occasion. In doing so, Cork put themselves in a very advantageous position to have another extended hurling summer.<\/p>\n
In the league final loss to Limerick, the starting 15 didn’t function to the desired level, particularly up front where just a third of the six forwards performed to their full capabilities and concern was expressed in some quarters.<\/p>\n
There was criticism of the team as a whole for being below par but any dedicated student of the game is well versed on the vast difference between league and championship… all the more so now because of how condensed the season is.<\/p>\n
This time, however, very little fault could be found with any of those who lined up in red for the national anthem.<\/p>\n
The defence had leaders everywhere, particularly the Glen’s Downey brothers, Rob and Eoin, both outstanding and Castlemartyr’s Ciar\u00e1n Joyce, emerging as a full-back of considerable stature.<\/p>\n
The performance from the inside defensive line was very admirable with Jason Forde and John McGrath being held.<\/p>\n
At the other end of the field, the couple of changes made to the Cork attack worked a treat, two youngsters setting off the senior intercounty voyage giving a masterclass in the art of scoring.<\/p>\n
It’s always a bit of a gamble throwing two young players into the white heat of a Munster hurling championship battle but it was a gamble that worked the oracle.<\/p>\n
William Buckley had one of those dream championship debuts, his energy and execution of scores was a joy to behold and he was deservedly awarded the man of the match accolade.<\/p>\n
Killeagh’s Barry Walsh was superb too, he had a few nervous moments early on but how well he developed and grew into the game and his quartet of points were game highlights, another championship debut to fondly remember.<\/p>\n
The Cork half-forward sector might not have set the forest on fire in the league final but as a unit Darragh Fitzgibbon, Shane Barrett and young Walsh rifled over a dozen points between them, a quartet apiece that was bettered by two from Buckley.<\/p>\n
Cork put 29 points on the board overall, 22 from open play. That is a hugely impressive statistic by any standards.<\/p>\n
All the starting Cork front six delivered with Alan Connolly doing the business from the placed ball, being off target just once and being very unlucky with a goal chance.<\/p>\n
Darragh Fitzgibbin had four points alongside his name after just 10 minutes, another ruled out by a Hawk-Eye decision that took far too long to adjudicate on In last July’s All-Ireland final, Cork led by six points at the interval. This time, the sides went in on level terms with many wondering what lay ahead.<\/p>\n
Well, the answer was provided very quickly, there was no collapse this time, Cork grabbing hold of the game by the throat and never letting go despite a late surge by Tipperary in making it a one-score game deep in stoppage time.<\/p>\n
In fact, between the 44th and 59th minute, Cork outscored their old foes by 0-10 to 0-1. Ben O’Connor’s men strode towards the finish line.<\/p>\n
Tipp did not score from play in the second-half seven minutes from the end of regulation time.<\/p>\n
The positives far outweighed any negatives on the Cork side. The difference in the performance from the league decider was chalk and cheese.<\/p>\n
\n There is never such a thing as a perfect performance of course, perfection is near impossible to attain and the misses in the opening half from long-range frees will be addressed.\n <\/p>\n
To be fair to Tim O’Mahony, whose work ethic could not be faulted, he nailed a very important second-half free which would have restored his confidence from distance.<\/p>\n
Tim O’Mahony of Cork and Jake Morris of Tipperary clash on Sunday. Picture: INPHO\/James Lawlor<\/p>\n
Cork never really threatened Rhys Shelley in the Tipp goal except for Connoly’s chance but the 29-point haul and so many from play more than compensated for that.<\/p>\n
When the game was being dissected afterwards there would have been a debate about a Cork free being moved 50 metres following sideline dissent from Tipperary. Many believe that punishment is too harsh for a situation like that. But right or wrong, that’s the rule now.<\/p>\n
Cork’s excellent championship record in Thurles against the home team continued. This was Cork’s fourth win in five games since 2017 in Semple, the other a draw.<\/p>\n
From a Tipp perspective, there will be acute disappointment at the loss, an All-Ireland winning team deservedly beaten by a team they destroyed last July.<\/p>\n
They will take some solace from the fact that when Cork were firmly in the ascendency they managed to hang in there.<\/p>\n
In this frenetic Munster championship, when not a whole pile separates any of the five counties, losing your opening game makes things a lot more awkward going forward. Given how well Waterford performed in losing to Clare, Tipp next to improve when going to Walsh Park next Sunday.<\/p>\n
Conversely, there will be a significant spring in Cork’s step for the visit of Limerick on the same day. With an away win and two home games to come, the optimism levels have risen.<\/p>\n
It’s a very quick turnaround, just a few days really to sort out any shortcomings. Far better to be doing that in the aftermath of a win that was fully merited. Nothing’s won yet but the long road has just become that small bit shorter.<\/p>\n
\n Full credit to the Cork management too, their game management was superior and the players responded accordingly.\n <\/p>\n
Finally, a quick word on Clare’s victory over Waterford in Ennis where Tony Kelly, Shane O’Donnell, Shane Rynne, Peter Duggan and Mark Rogers exhibited their scoring potential. However, the concession of four goals will have been of considerable concern for Brian Lohan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Redemption Sunday in Thurles for a bunch of Cork hurlers hell bent in consigning some of recent events…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408827,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1965,1964,61,60,112],"class_list":{"0":"post-408826","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-hurling","9":"tag-cork-gaa","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}