Bord Gais Energy Munster U-21H S-Final – Cork 4-19 Tipp 1-21

Awesome Rebel firepower

Cork 4-19 Tipperary 1-21

By Fintan O’Toole for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Saturday, July 16, 2011

RECENT meetings against Tipperary in the U21 grade have been painful experiences for Cork with extra-time defeats in the last two years but the memories of those clashes were erased courtesy of a powerful winning performance in last night’s Bord Gáis Energy Munster U21HC semi-final in Semple Stadium. This match had assumed extra significance given Cork’s hurling travails at other levels this season and the U21 team delivered a timely success. The latest offering maintained the theme of pulsating encounters between the counties at underage level in recent seasons but in a game that produced 45 scores in 60 minutes of play, Cork’s greater potency up front was key in front of 4,629 patrons.

“We’re very pleased and it was a hugely satisfying performance,” admitted Cork manager Ger Fitzgerald. “We got a fabulous start but they came back at us as. Goals were the key for us tonight and our men inside had the courage to take on the defenders to go for goals. But we have to keep our feet on the ground now and realise that we’ve nothing won. We’ve to play the winners of Clare and Limerick now, and that’ll be very difficult.” Luke O’Farrell was in dazzling form in the opening stages and he unleashed a bullet to the top corner of the net in the fifth minute, after Christopher Joyce had made a brilliant block in defence to kickstart the move. Dean Brosnan fired home the second in the 23rd minute with a rasping shot that came back off the stanchion and that was a reward for his promising endeavours. Conor Lehane bundled home the third in the 36th minute and that exemplified the greater impact the Midleton youngster made in the second half, as he benefited from a switch to full-forward before the break.

The final goal was registered by Aidan Walsh, a sublime finish in the 46th minute, and he had a storming second half as Tipperary found it impossible to halt his dominance in the aerial exchanges. Cork’s remaining forwards also shone, with Michael O’Sullivan playing an important role in helping to stymie the influence exerted by Noel McGrath while Jamie Coughlan weighed in with a 0-5 haul. Tipperary were unable to build on their quarter-final win over Waterford yet their recovery from a disastrous start had seemingly placed them right in contention. Cork’s early play was electric as they sprinted into a 1-7 to 0-1 lead by the ninth minute but remarkably Tipperary had whittled away that advantage within 10 minutes. They never panicked and their corner-forward John O’Dwyer displayed superb accuracy from placed balls. Tipperary’s tactic of direct ball into Brian O’Meara paid off handsomely in the 15th minute when he grabbed a delivery by Kieran Morris and lashed a shot to the roof of the net. Brosnan’s goal afforded Cork some breathing space in the face of that Tipperary onslaught yet the game was delicately balanced as Cork lead 2-10 to 1-12 at the break.

Before the teams headed for the dressing rooms Fitzgerald expressed his displeasure to referee Michael Wadding at his first-half officiating and there was legitimacy to his complaints with the final free count standing 18-5 in Tipperary’s favour. “I was unhappy,” revealed the Cork manager. “I just wanted to make the point that I felt they were getting frees a little easier. It didn’t improve in the second half so obviously what I said didn’t work but that’s the way it is.”

Tipperary made the brighter start to the second half as they outscored Cork 0-6 to 1-2 in the third quarter. Yet critically Cork tightened up in defence with substitute Damien Cahalane exerting a steadying influence, Joyce continuing to impress and captain William Egan leading the way. Goalkeeper Darren McCarthy made a vital save in the third quarter from O’Dwyer and was also alert to clear his lines as Morris stole in on goal. At the other end Tipperary were struggling as their full-back line was placed under immense pressure while McCarthy’s puckouts repeatedly found the hand of Walsh at left half-forward. The Kanturk man’s goal opened the floodgates and in the closing exchanges Lehane and Coughlan split the posts with a succession of classy scores. Midfielder Adrian Ryan hit some good points for Tipperary yet they were unable to make real headway and the late switch of Noel McGrath to attack failed to alter the course of the game. Cork registered 1-7 in the final quarter while only conceding 0-3 and the strength of that finish propelled them to a place in the final on August 3.

Scorers for Cork: C Lehane 1-4, L O’Farrell 1-3, D Brosnan 1-2, A Walsh 1-1, J Coughlan 0-5 (0-2f), M O’Sullivan 0-2, W Egan (0-1f), S O’Farrell 0-1 each.

Scorers for Tipperary: J O’Dwyer 0-11 (0-10f), B O’Meara 1-1, N McGrath 0-3 (0-3f), A Ryan, S Curran 0-2 each, K Morris, J O’Neill 0-1 each.

CORK: D McCarthy; C Joyce, E Finn, S Corry; J Nagle, W Egan, M Ellis; S O’Farrell, D Roche; D Brosnan, C Lehane, A Walsh; L O’Farrell, M O’Sullivan, J Coughlan.

Subs: D Drake for Roche (half-time), D Cahalane for Finn (42), E O’Sullivan for S O’Farrell (58).

TIPPERARY: P Ryan; C Haugh, K O’Gorman, S O’Brien; J Barry, N McGrath, P Heffernan; B Stapleton, A Ryan; J O’Neill, S Curran, P Murphy; K Morris, B O’Meara, J O’Dwyer.

Subs: J Gallagher for Barry (25), S Maher for O’Brien (half-time), M Sheedy for Morris (50), W Maher for Murphy (54).

Referee: Michael Wadding (Waterford)

Team News

The Tipperary under 21 hurling team to play Cork in the Munster semi-final at Semple Stadium on Friday night, July 17 shows 2 changes from the team which started against Waterford in the quarter final. Sean O’Brien and Kieran Morris come into the team in place of Stephen Maher and Joe Gallagher.

The team is:

1. Paul Ryan (Upperchurch Drombane) 2. Ciarán Hough (Lorrha and Dorrha) 3. Kevin O’Gorman (Thurles Sarsfields) 4. Sean O’Brien (Newport) 5. Brian Stapleton (Templederry Kenyons) 6. Padraig Heffernan (Clonoulty Rossmore) 7. James Barry (Upperchurch Drombane) 8. Noel McGrath (Loughmore Castleiney) Captain 9. Adrian Ryan (Templederry Kenyons) 10. Sean Curran (Mullinahone) 11. Paddy Murphy (Nenagh Éire Óg) 12. Brian O’Meara (Kilruane MacDonaghs) 13. Kieran Morris (Moycarkey Borris) 14. John O’Neill (Clonoulty Rossmore) 15. John O’Dwyer (Killenaule)

CORK (U21 HC v Tipperary): D McCarthy(Ballymartle); C Joyce (Na Piarsaigh), E Finn (Ballinhassig), S Corry (Ballymartle); J Nagle (Midleton), W Egan (Kilbrin), M Ellis (Banteer); S O’Farrell (Midleton), D Roche (Sarsfields); D Brosnan (Glen Rovers), C Lehane (Midleton), A Walsh (Kanturk); L O’Farrell (Midleton), M O’Sullivan (Tracton), J Coughlan (Newtownshandrum).
Subs: M O’Neill (Bishopstown), B Withers (Banteer), B Collins (Killeagh), D Cahalane (St Finbarrs), M Sexton (Kilbrittain), D Drake (Carrigaline), E O’Sullivan (Sarsfields), S Harnedy (St Itas), S O’Brien (Carrigaline).

For the Record

Munster Under 21 Hurling Championship

Tipperary v Cork Past Meetings Breakdown

BORD GAIS ENERGY MUNSTER GAA HURLING UNDER 21 CHAMPIONSHIP 2011

Quarter-Final

Wednesday June 1st

@ Semple Stadium Thurles           Tipperary 4-12 Waterford 1-16

Semi-Finals

Friday July 15th

@ Semple Stadium Thurles           Cork v Tipperary 7:30pm

Tuesday July 26th

@ Cusack Park Ennis                    Clare v Limerick 7:30pm

Final
Wednesday August 3^rd

Venue Permutations as follows –

@ Cusack Park Ennis                                    Clare v Tipperary                                                        7:30pm
@ Cusack Park Ennis                                    Clare v Cork                                                               7:30pm
@ Gaelic Grounds Limerick               Limerick v Tipperary                                                   7:30pm
@ Gaelic Grounds Limerick               Limerick v Cork                                                          7:30pm

Munster Under 21 Hurling Championship Roll Of Honour

Tipperary (20) – 1964, 1965, 1967, 1972, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010

Cork (18) – 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1982, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2007

Limerick (5) – 1986, 1987, 2000, 2001, 2002

Waterford (3) – 1974, 1992, 1994

Clare (1) – 2009

Munster Under 21 Hurling Championship – List of Winning Teams

Visit the Munster GAA web site History section to view the complete list of each winning team since the competition began in1964 – https://munster.gaa.ie/history/u21h_teams/

Munster Under 21 Hurling Cup

Corn na Cásca presented by the Munster Council in 1966 to commemorate the jubilee of the 1916 Rising.

All Ireland Under 21 Hurling Championship

In the Under 21 Hurling All Ireland Roll of Honour, Cork top the charts along with Kilkenny with 11 titles. Tipperary are joint-third with 9 titles, tied with Galway. Limerick have won 4 All-Ireland titles in this grade while Waterford and Clare have 1 title each.

2011 Bord Gais Energy Munster Under 21 Hurling Championship Matches played to date

Tipperary 4-12 Waterford 1-16 – June 1^st @ Semple Stadium Thurles (Munster Quarter-Final)

Tipperary – P Ryan; C Haugh, K O’Gorman, S Maher; B Stapleton, J Barry, P Heffernan; N McGrath, J Gallagher; S Curran, P Murphy, A Ryan; J O’Neill, B O’Meara, J O’Dwyer.
Subs: S O’Brien for Barry (inj, h-t), A McCormack for Ryan (39), M Sheedy for Curran (56).

Waterford – S O’Keeffe; J Barron, D Fives, N Connors; P Prendergast, Philip Mahony, S Daniels; S Roche, A Brophy; E Murphy, Pauric Mahony, M O’Neill; B O’Sullivan, M Shanahan, J Dillon.
Subs: O Whelan for O’Neill (h-t), O Connors for Brophy (47), E Madigan for Murphy (inj 56).

Referee – Diarmuid Kirwan (Cork)

2011 Top Scorers – Bord Gais Energy Munster Under 21 Hurling Championship

John O’Neill (Tipperary) 2-2

Brian O’Sullivan (Waterford ) 1-4

Pauric Mahony (Waterford) 0-6 frees
Noel McGrath (Tipperary) 1-1 (1-0 penalty)
Maurice Shanahan (Waterford) 0-4

Sean Curran (Tipperary) 1-0
Adrian Ryan (Tipperary) 0-3
John O’Dwyer (Tipperary) 0-2 (0-1 free)

Brian Stapleton (Tipperary), Paddy Murphy (Tipperary), Brian O’Meara (Tipperary), Mike Sheedy (Tipperary), Jake Dillon (Waterford), Owen Connors (Waterford) 0-1 each

Odds and Ends

Waterford had 10 points to spare over Tipperary in the 2009 Munster Under 21 Hurling Championship Semi-Final at Fraher Field Dungarvan. 14 months later, 8 of the Tipperary team played in the 2010 All-Ireland Senior Hurling defeat over Kilkenny – Padraic Maher, Michael Cahill, Brendan Maher, Seamus Hennessy, Gearoid Ryan, Noel McGrath, Seamus Callanan and Patrick Maher. 7 other Tipperary hurlers who played that night are members of the 2011 Tipperary Senior Hurling panel – namely Pa Bourke, John O’Neill, Shane Bourke, John O’Keeffe, Sean Carey, Michael Heffernan and John Coghlan. By contrast, Noel Connors was the only Waterford player to start for Waterford in the 2010 Munster Final and Replay while Maurice Shanahan and Shane Casey made brief substitute appearances.

Shane O’Neill captained Cork to Munster Under 21 Hurling success, their last title at this grade. Shane is the Cork Senior Hurling captain for 2011. The Cork team included Eoin Cadogan, Pat Cronin, Cathal Naughton and Pat Horgan.

Waterford’s last Munster Under 21 Hurling title came in 1994 with James O’Connor as Captain. Tony Browne lined out at centre-back while Paul Flynn was corner-forward.

Tipperary have played in 28 finals, winning 20. Cork have contested 27 finals, being successful 18 times. Waterford have qualified for just 6 of the 47 finals played to date, winning 3. Limerick’s records is Played 16, Won 5, Lost 11. Finally, Clare lost 11 finals before winning their first in 2009 before going on to lose the 2010 final to Tipperary.