Cork overturned a nine-point deficit to beat Galway by 3-15 to 5-8 in an epic encounter at Croke Park.

Corner forwards Kevin Hallisey and Brian Hurley contributed a match-winning tally of 3-7 between them for the Rebels.

Two goals from Peadar O'Griofa gave Galway a 2-5 to 1-5 half-time lead. The winners had most of the possession during that opening half-hour, but the men in maroon jerseys were much more economical in front of the posts.

The Rebels went ahead in the third minute when Mark Sugrue got on the end of a quickly-taken free and blasted the ball over the bar from close range, when he probably should have scored a goal, but Galway were soon on terms thanks to a Peadar O'Griofa free.

In the seventh minute, O'Griofa outjumped his marker to gather Niall Walsh's delivery and the Galway No.13 made no mistake, firing to the net from the edge of the small square. John O'Rourke pulled back a point after good work from Brian Hurley.

Shane Maughan was wide for the Tribe after O'Griofa's right-footed effort had rebounded off an upright at the Davin End. Galway 'keeper James Keane made a save to deny Hurley and it was 1-1 to 0-2 after ten minutes.

Rebel midfielder Damien Cahalane closed the gap after a good run but Walsh pointed immediately at the other end. Niall Quinn's point meant it was 1-3 to 0-3 to the Connacht representatives at the end of the first quarter and Conor Rabbitte stretched the gap with a superb 16th-minute point.

The Leesiders had a chance when Jamie Wall ran through the heart of Galway's defence from left half back but that came to nothing and it was the same when Keane spread himself to make a fine save from Hurley. The Cork No.15 then tapped over a free following a foul on Jamie Burns.

Kevin Hallisey added to Cork's wides tally (their sixth) as the Munster county continued to pour forward and Hurley pulled a free wide from in front of the posts as Brian Cuthbert's lads struggled to punish the scoreboard. But Daniel Fitzgerald knocked over a 24th-minute free to close the gap to two points, 0-5 to 1-4.

Cork were dominating possession and Galway boss Gerry Fahy made two substitutions during the first half, throwing in Dathi Burke and Cathal O'Neill. Rabbitte had a half-chance of flicking to the net but alert Cork custodian David Hanrahan denied him.

The Tribe replacements then combined brilliantly for a timely Galway point: Burke won the ball and laid it off to O'Neill, who took a nice point from distance off his left boot. A minute from the short whistle, the Rebel County finally worked their way in behind the Galway defence, with Hallisey blasting powerfully to the net from close range despite a brave effort from Keane.

That score had the sides level but there was further drama in first-half injury time when O'Griofa latched onto a miscue from Burke to lash a blistering shot to the roof of the Rebel net and give the westerners a three-point interval cushion.

Two minutes into the second half, the sides were level. Hurley got on the end of a good ball in from Cahalane and cut inside purposefully before slamming the ball into the net. Amazingly, Niall Walsh had the ball in the Cork net within seconds, blasting a great shot into the Hill 16 goal from a tight angle. An unbelievable start to the second half: 3-5 to 2-5 after 34 minutes.

It was raining goals now and Rabbitte added a fourth for Galway in the 38th minute, blasting home after a good pass from Maughan, who followed up with a fantastic point to make it 4-6 to 2-5 after 39 minutes. In between, O'Griofa missed by inches as he went for his third three-pointer.

Substitute Dan McEoin pulled back a lovely point for the Rebels but Rabbitte pulled another goal out of the hat in the 44th minute: 5-6 to 2-6. Trailing by nine points approaching the three-quarters stage, Cork looked dead and buried... But thirty second later, Hallisey pulled back a goal for the Rebels and Sugrue followed up with an instant point to close the gap to five points with 15 minutes left.

Keane made another great save to deny O'Rourke but Wall raided forward to fire another Cork point. Ten minutes from the end, Hallisey got on the end of a patient Cork move to close the gap to three points.

Hurley's 52nd-minute free continued the fightback (the Rebels had now hit 1-4 without reply to carve a nine-point deficit down to two) and Damien Cahalane was on hand to make it a one-point game with an excellent point from the middle of the park on 54 minutes.

The sides were level in the 57th minute when Hallisey whacked over a super point from out the field off his left foot. All the momentum was with Cork but Galway mounted a rare attack and were awarded a contentious free close to goal, which Maughan tapped over the bar for the lead point.

However, in the last minute of normal time, Hurley landed a magnificent free from his hands, off his right boot to make it 3-13 to 5-7 after the hour. Three minutes of injury time were called and Maughan restored Galway's lead in the first of these before Hurley replied from a free a few seconds later.

An energetic surge from Hurley in the last minute of added time bought a cheap free from James Shaughnessy and the Cork No.15 kept his cool and stroked the ball between the post to give his team an astonishing win.

Cork: David Hanrahan; James Goggin, Matthew O'Shea, Darren Murphy; Diarmuid Lester, Tom Clancy, Jamie Wall (0-1); Jamie Burns, Damien Cahalane (0-2); John O'Rourke (0-1), Daniel Fitzgerald (0-1), Alan Cronin; Kevin Hallisey (2-2), Mark Sugrue (0-2), Brian Hurley (1-5). Subs: Dan McEoin (0-1), Kevin Fulignati, C O'Sullivan, Stephen O'Mahony, Tom Hegarty.

Galway: James Keane; Colm MacDonnacha, James Shaughnessy, Paul Varley; Mark Loughnane, M Kelly, Jack Vaughan; Eoghan Commins, Thomas Flynn; Niall Quinn (0-1), Fiontain O Curraoin (captain), Niall Walsh (1-1); Peadar O Griofa (2-1), Conor Rabbitte (2-1), Shane Maughan (0-3). Subs: Daithi Burke, Cathal O'Neill (0-1), Fiach O'Bearra, Adrian Varley, David Black. Tweet

Most Read Stories