Moment of madness costs Tipperary as Cork hammer 14-man Premier in Munster SHC following Darragh McCarthy red card

The Irish Sun

28-04-2025

CHAMPAGNE HURLING was not required for Cork to win a game that lost its fizz before anyone in the 42,231 attendance had a chance to work up a thirst.
The Rebels are the early front-runners in the Munster SHC after seeing off 14-man Tipperary for the second time in three weeks at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
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Tim O'Mahony of Cork celebrates after scoring his side's first goal against Tipperary
Credit: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
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Darragh McCarthy of Tipperary, 13, is shown a red card by referee Johnny Murphy
Credit: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
With both sides playing out thrilling draws in their respective openers, this one appeared to have all the ingredients to make for another gripping encounter.
But Tipp's hopes of a first Championship victory since June 2023 were dealt a hammer blow as a result of an incident that occurred before the ball had even been thrown in by referee Johnny Murphy.
Cork, who lost Shane Barrett to a red card in their first-round clash with Clare, had a numerical advantage for the entirety of this 15-point thumping thanks to the dismissal of Darragh McCarthy.
A precocious talent whose late score earned his side a point against Limerick seven days earlier, the 19-year-old Toomevara forward was given his marching orders for a strike that left Seán O'Donoghue on the deck.
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With Tim O'Mahony, Patrick Horgan and Alan Connolly netting inside the opening quarter, Cork quickly dampened any prospect of the visitors pulling off the improbable.
Ten points, which was the home side's winning margin in the National League final earlier this month, separated the teams at half-time.
Jason Forde, who hit 0-15 from 18 shots, led the way in attack for a Tipp side who battled gamely to defy their handicap.
And while the deficit very briefly fell below double digits in the 51st minute when Forde and Jake Morris pointed in quick succession, Cork were never in real danger.
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Restored to the team in place of the suspended Barrett, Declan Dalton capped a man-of-the-match display with a superb finish on the run to claim a 64th-minute goal.
Casual, rather than clinical, would be a more apt description of the Cork performance.
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And it was often manifested in uncharacteristically poor execution.
However, they were never sufficiently punished by a Premier outfit who were bailing water with a colander once their chances were torpedoed from the outset.
Cork boss Pat Ryan said: 'I think in the Munster Championship it doesn't matter how you win, as long as you win — that's the key. Everyone wants you to play champagne hurling and wants you to score goals and all of that.
'Getting over the line and winning matches, we couldn't do it above in Ennis the last day, we did it a bit better today.
'I often say about us, we can only go at one speed and that's flat out. We can't be in third or fourth gear, it's not the way we play. We have to be in fifth gear.
'We took our eye off the ball in certain aspects and didn't move the ball in quickly enough and gave them too many easy short puckouts, which didn't help us in any way.
'Getting the two points was all we came down here to do and we're delighted we got them.'
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
Nine points ahead against Clare when Barrett was sent off after 56 minutes, Cork needed a last-gasp free from Dalton to earn a share of the spoils.
Ryan continued: 'As I've said all along, you can't win games in Munster with only 14 fellas on the field. It's just impossible, teams are too good, so we should have been winning that game.
'We were disappointed with a couple of fallow periods in the second half again. That's something we'll look at with our analysis team, why did that happen?'
In their analysis, Tipp will lament their failure to avail of several first-half goal opportunities. Craig Morgan and Sam O'Farrell (left) forced saves from Patrick Collins. Forde also saw a 20-metre free kept out by Eoin Downey.
It took Cork just five minutes to raise their first green flag as the unmarked O'Mahony finished brilliantly after being picked out by Brian Hayes.
The second arrived just over seven minutes later when a clever dummy from Horgan left Michael Breen for dead, allowing the Championship's all-time top scorer to beat Barry Hogan at his near post.
On 16 minutes, Connolly converted after being teed up by Darragh Fitzgibbon as the Blackrock ace bagged a goal against Tipp for the fourth game on the trot to help Cork take a 3-13 to 0-12 advantage into the break.
The main concern for the hosts at that stage was the welfare of Rob Downey, who seemed to be in considerable discomfort as he was forced off after 20 minutes.
GOOD CHANCES
But Ryan was optimistic about his captain's chances of being fit to face Limerick on May 18 after revealing that he sustained a dead leg which is unrelated to the knee injury that led to his withdrawal against Clare eight days ago.
Downey operated as the spare man in defence before Mark Coleman took over to enjoy the freedom afforded to Cork after McCarthy was ejected.
On the flashpoint, Ryan said: 'I didn't see it. Look, there were a lot of things sparked all over the field really in that instance. I don't think we initiated any of it, to be honest with you.
'But these things happen at the start of games. Obviously there's probably a marker trying to be put on some of our players.
'I'm disappointed for Darragh — he's only a young man. I wouldn't have seen him ever being involved in anything kind of dirty before. These things happen. You just move on.'
CORK
: P Collins; S O'Donoghue, E Downey, N O'Leary; C Joyce, R Downey, M Coleman; T O'Mahony 1-0, E Twomey; D Dalton 1-6, 2f, D Fitzgibbon 0-2, S Harnedy 0-5; P Horgan 1-9, 6f, B Hayes 0-2, A Connolly 1-0.
Subs
: G Millerick for R Downey 20 mins; L Meade for Twomey 47; B Roche for Connolly 52; R O'Flynn 0-2 for O'Mahony 57; T O'Connell 0-1 for Joyce 66.
TIPPERARY
: B Hogan; R Doyle, E Connolly 0-1, M Breen; S O'Farrell, R Maher, B O'Mara; C Morgan 0-1, A Tynan; C Bowe, J Morris 0-3, D Stakelum 0-1; D McCarthy, J McGrath, J Forde 0-15, 12f.
Subs
: A Ormond 0-1 for Bowe 42 mins; N McGrath for Stakelum 42; S Kennedy for Tynan 46; G O'Connor for J McGrath 51; W Connors 0-2 for O'Farrell 66.
REFEREE
: J Murphy (Limerick).