Sport

Cork ease to third on the trot

Cork gave a near flawless display when retaining their Munster under-21 hurling championship title with a surprisingly easy victory…

Mon Aug 24 1998 - 01:00

Cork gave a near flawless display when retaining their Munster under-21 hurling championship title with a surprisingly easy victory over Tipperary at Pairc Ui Chaoimh yesterday. It was their 11th success and their third consecutive title.

The outcome was a foregone conclusion as early as the 43rd minute after man of the match Sean Og O hAilpAin picked out full forward Sean O'Farrell for Cork's third goal and a 3-12 to 0-10 lead.

Tipperary played with the howling wind in the first half, but started badly with full forward Eugene O'Neill missing a clear-cut goal chance after just five minutes when his weak shot was deflected for a 65 by goalkeeper Donal Og Cusack. Within three minutes Cork had punished Tipperary as full back Diarmuid O'Sullivan trotted the length of the pitch to blast home a penalty after Joe Deane was fouled.

Deane inflicted another grievous wound after 15 minutes, rounding his opponents before stylishly shooting high into the net to give Cork a 2-4 to 0-3 lead. Tipp managed to stay in touch with frees from John Enright, but their position still looked precarious at the break with Cork leading by 2-6 to 0-9.

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Two early second-half points by Deane indicated Cork's desire and there was no way back for Tipperary after O'Farrell's goal, although football star Declan Browne, introduced in the second half, managed a consolation goal two minutes from the end. By that stage many in the crowd of 12,000 were heading for the exits.

CORK: D Og Cusack; W Sherlock, D O'Sullivan (1-0), M Prendergast; D Barrett, D Murphy, S Og O hAilpin; A Walsh, T Fitzgibbon; J Anderson, T McCarthy (0-1), M O'Connell (0-2); B O`Keeffe (0-2), S O'Farrell (1-2), J Deane (1-7). Subs: N Ronan (0-3) for Fitzgibbon, B O'Connor (0-1) for Anderson.

TIPPERARY: F Horgan; P Ormond, S Hickey, W Hickey; E Corcoran, D Fahey, D Fogarty; P Rabbitte, J Carroll; K Dunne, M O'Leary (0-1), L Cahill (0-1); J Enright (0-6), E O'Neill (0-1), M Kennedy (0- 1). Subs: W Maher for Corcoran, D Browne (1-0) for Dunne, and P O'Brien for Kennedy. Referee: S McMahon (Clare).