Holders Tipperary defeated Cork by 0-11 to 0-8 in Thurles to progress to another Munster minor final.

This was a more one-sided encounter than the final scoreline suggests as only a late rally from the losers got them back in touch after Tipp had led by seven points at one stage.

Alan Tynan scored seven times for the Blue & Golds, who left their followers amongst the attendance of 1,227 sweating right until the end.

Bidding for a third consecutive provincial crown at this level, the hosts knew they had one foot in the final as they led their illustrious visitors by double scores after 52 minutes, 0-10 to 0-5.

The defending champions produced a brilliant first-half display to lead by 0-5 to 0-1 at the interval, reeling off five successive scores to take control of the game.

But for some nervy finishing, the winners' half-time advantage could have been even greater.

It was a tentative opening at Semple Stadium, with both sides struggling to muster early scores. But wing back Sean White from Clonakilty gave the Rebels the lead in the seventh minute.

The Premier County were level by the tenth minute and had edged a point ahead by the 13th. Scores continued to be hard to come by, but it was Tipp who scored again to double their advantage with eight minutes left in a low-scoring opening period, 0-3 to 0-1.

Upon the restart, Tipp continued where they had left off in the first half but now they appeared to have found their shooting boots as three shots flew between the posts in as many minutes to make it 0-8 to 0-1.

Sensing that they were about to exit the championship, Elphie Fitzgerald's team suddenly came to life and Bandon's Michael Cahalane fired over three successive points to reduce the leeway to four with 46 minutes played, 0-8 to 0-4.

But Tipperary - first-round conquerors of Clare - pulled away again with two more points to extend their lead to six by the 51st minute. Even though the Leesiders notched four of the next five points, they still trailed by 0-11 to 0-8 as the match went into injury time.

There was a dramatic conclusion as a Cork goal at the death would have tied the scores up and forced Extra Time but Charlie McKeever's charges held on through five long additional minutes to deservedly book a final date with Kerry on July 7th.

On a straight line through Cork (who defeated the Kingdom after a replay), Tipperary will probably start that one as favourites to clinch a third Munster MFC title on the trot.

Tipperary - J Brady; D Owens, J Feehan, W Connors; K Fahey, R Mulcahy, L Boland; L Casey (0-1), C O'Riordan; P Shanahan, J Keane, C Lowry; A Tynan (0-7, 5f), T Kirwan, P Maher (0-2). Subs: S Quirke (0-1) for Shanahan, M Connolly for Boland, M Russell for Casey.

Cork - A Casey; M McSweeney, K Flahive, D Quinn; S White (0-1), S Cronin, K O'Neill; P Kelleher, K O'Connor; J Bushe (0-1), R Harkin, K Cremin; R O'Sullivan, M Cahalane (0-4, 2f), M Hurley. Subs: P O'Neill for Kelleher, A Moynihan (0-2) for Cremin, R Cahalane for O'Sullivan, D O'Driscoll for Harkin, C O'Driscoll for O'Neill.

Referee - S Joy. Tweet

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