Inside Track with John McIntyre

WELL, that beat Banagher! When you think you have seen everything on the hurling fields, along comes the second half of Sunday’s All-Ireland Final at Croke Park to stand in a league of its own in terms of the unexpected happening.

Sure, Cork were a little flattered to be 1-16 to 0-13 up at half-time and a Tipperary team scrapping for everything were still alive, but Heavens to Murgatroyd, a subsequent 21-point turnaround defies any sort of rational analysis.

Instead, the anticipated Cork coronation and the ending of a 20-year title famine was blown to pieces by a spectacular Tipperary second-half performance which saw them outscore the shell-shocked Rebels by a staggering 3-14 to a paltry two points.

Alan Connolly’s smartly-finished goal on the cusp of half-time may have sent the Cork supporters into raptures, but heading into the final quarter the growing unease of their fans was palpable in the stands. They couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

It was undoubtedly the biggest-ever meltdown in an All-Ireland final – a collapse of epic proportions. Cork just didn’t seem to be mentally braced for the hardship Tipperary threw at them on the resumption. Maybe, they thought the job was nearly done by half-time.

If Cork were getting sick of beating Tipperary over the past three years, including handing out an 18-point trouncing in the 2024 Munster championship, can you imagine how sick everyone associated with Tipp hurling were over those one-sided contests.

Liam Cahill had his team locked and loaded for Sunday. Tactically, they also outsmarted Cork, even if their use of Bryan O’Mara in the sweeper role was hardly a revolutionary move given Tipp’s necessity to cut out the supply to the opposition’s inside forward line.

Yet, it appeared to catch Cork off-guard. The Munster champions did manage 17 scores in the first half, but most of them were from out the field with Connolly and young Diarmuid Healy doing most of the damage. Inside them, Brian Hayes, Pat Horgan and Shane Barrett were kept on the periphery of the action.

Pictured: Cork’s Niall O’Leary can only look on in despair as Tipperary’s John McGrath shows his delight after scoring their opening goal in Sunday’s All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final at Croke Park.