THRILL A MINUTE IN PAIRC
Four goal Cork nick draw in epic tie LAKE HOPE SUNK BY SHEFFLIN’S RUTHLESS SIX-GOAL TRIBE
CORK 4-19 TIPPERARY
Westmeath 0-17 Galway 6-33 Leinster SHC
HENRY SHEFFLIN’S Galway proved far too strong for a limited Westmeath outfit in in Mullingar.
Niall O’brien actually nudged the home team ahead from a secondminute free. Galway settled quickly and they were 0-6 to 0-2 after 13 minutes, the first three points coming from Evan Niland (two frees). On the quarter-hour mark, Conor Whelan cut in goalward and he gave the generally impressive Noel Conaty no chance.
Six minutes later, Whelan doubled his goal haul, with Conaty unlucky not to stop his low shot.
Great approach play by Liam
A BREATH-TAKING 70 minutes of hurling ended in an explosion of goals and a draw that leaves Cork and Tipperary both unbeaten at the top of the Munster Championship table.
There were three goals packed into the final dozen minutes of play as Cork came back from five points behind to level with a late 2-4 burst to Tipp’s 1-2.
Darragh Fitzgibbon’s tap-in goal sparked the madness before Declan Dalton forced a defensive free to land the long-range leveller.
For the second time when equalled, Tipp found a goal straight from the puck-out, with Dan Mccormack feeding impact sub Mark Kehoe (1-4) who carried in to score.
He wasn’t the only super sub. Brian Hayes came on in the 69th minute; his first touch to win the puck-out and his second to finish at the end of a superb flowing move.
Level entering five minutes of injury time, there was time for one more goal chance and two scores.
Séamus Callanan, just on, had a goal chance denied by a flying Patrick Collins block but recovered possession to point.
Shane Kingston had the final say among the subs, his third point giving Cork a share of the spoils in front 36,765 well-entertained fans.
John Mcgrath had the best chance to break the deadlock but his free from distance drifted wide.
Both managers made two changes, with full Championship debuts for Tipp’s Seán Ryan and Cork’s Eoin Downey, back
from sus
Collins and Kevin Cooney teed up Whelan for his third goal. Four minutes later, Brian Concannon rifled a shot to the roof of the net and it was 4-16 to 0-7 at the break with Whelan then substituted.
The Tribesmen’s fifth goal came less than three minutes after play resumed, Kevin Cooney the man on target. Impressive sub Declan pension. The Rebels’ other late switch saw Robbie O’flynn fit enough to start, with Luke Meade and Conor Lehane dropping out.
Cork had only one goal chance all day against Waterford but they tore the Tipp defence apart three times in a sweltering first five minutes at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Dalton burying the last of those.
Cork were 1-3 to 0-2 ahead with Tipp yet to register from play but they choked up Rebel attacks, with Ronan Maher sweeping up breaks, Séamus Kennedy dominating rucks, and Noel Mcgrath playmaking.
The Premier hit 10 of the next 11 points, with two each from Kennedy and Alan Tynan. They suffered the heavy blow, however, of Jason Forde tweaking his hamstring in scoring.
They led by five but O’flynn picked up a loose ball and, again, with too much space to run into, he fended off the hits for a flicked finish. Having brought Cork back into it, 0-14 to 2-6 behind at half-time, he limped off the field. Having waited for a goal chance, Mcgrath’s clever handpass unlocked the rearguard and O’connor stayed patient to fire through a scrum of bodies. Kehoe and Tynan took their tallies to 0-4 each, extending Tipp’s advantage back out to five, but Cork’s best was yet to come.
Dalton celebrates after scoring goal for Cork in packed Pairc Ui Chaoimh last night
HURLING TABLES