Munster SFC: Rebels too hot for Premier
May 26, 2018
Tipperary's Robbie Kiely has the fabric of his jersey tested by Cork's Mark Collins ©INPHO/Oisin Keniry
With the minimum of fuss, Cork cruised past Tipperary and into the Munster football final, 1-17 to 0-9 at Semple Stadium.
In front of a crowd of 3,339, Tipp - in action for the second weekend running - were unable to rekindle the fire of 2016 and '17 and were the second-best side throughout.
Both Steven O'Brien and Conor Sweeney were in the home side's starting ranks, but they still struggled to make an impact and fell seven points adrift by half time, 1-8 to 0-4, Colm O'Neill netting on the half-hour.
Top scorer Luke Connolly and Sean White slotted the first two points for the Rebels but the sides were level after 21 fairly drab minutes, 0-3 each, Michael Quinlivan opening the losers' accont in the tenth minute. Connolly tagged on four more points either side of O'Neill's goal and Mark Collins also pointed as the Leesiders effectively sealed their provincial final place before the short whistle.
Collins and Connolly (free) stretched the gap to nine as the one-way traffic continued upon the resumption. Liam Boland and Liam McGrath were amongst the scorers as the Premier rallied briefly and struck five without reply to halve their arrears, closing within five with 14 minutes left, 1-11 to 0-9. But the winners reeled off the last six scores of the night through Connolly (two frees), Paul Kerrigan (2), Collins and substitute Brian Hurley.
Ronan McCarthy's charges will meet either Kerry or Clare in the Munster SFC final on June 23rd, while Tipperary go into the second-round Qualifier draw.
Cork - M White; K Crowley, J O'Sullivan, K Flahive; S White (0-1), S Cronin, T Clancy; A Walsh, I Maguire; K O'Driscoll, M Collins (0-3), R Deane; J O'Rourke, C O'Neill (1-0), L Connolly (0-10, 5f). Subs: B Hurley (0-1) for C O'Neill, R O'Toole for K O'Driscoll, P Kelleher for A Walsh, P Kerrigan (0-2) for J O'Rourke, J Loughrey for S White, M Taylor for T Clancy.
Tipperary - E Comerford; S O'Connell, J Meagher, A Campbell; B Maher, R Kiely, J Feehan; L Casey, J Kennedy (0-1f); J Keane, S O'Brien, B Fox; C Sweeney, M Quinlivan (0-1), L McGrath (0-5, 4f). Subs: P Austin (0-1) for J Feehan, K Fahey for R Kiely, Liam Boland (0-1) for L Casey, J Lonergan for J Keane, K O'Halloran for C Sweeney.
Referee - A Nolan.
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