Watch shocking moment bottle is THROWN at Cork GAA star during heated half-time scenes in All-Ireland hurling final

The Irish Sun

2 days ago

THIS was the moment a plastic bottle hit Declan Dalton during heated scenes at half-time in the All-Ireland hurling final.
The Cork forward was struck by the projectile that appeared to be thrown down from the stands at Croke Park as he was making his way down the tunnel.
1
Declan Dalton was struck by a bottle at half-time in the All-Ireland final
Credit: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Dalton and Tipperary's Willie Connors were both yellow carded by referee Liam Gordon for a brief altercation at the interval as tensions boiled over.
Moments earlier, Shane Barrett had scored a goal for the Rebels to send them into the break with a 1-16 to 0-13 lead.
It added insult to injury for the Premier, who themselves had had a goal ruled out a couple of minutes earlier.
They thought that they had reduced the gap to a point when Jason Forde flicked in a long free from full-back Eoghan Connolly.
Read More on GAA
However, Gordon and his umpires ruled that the Tipperary corner forward had started inside the small square when the ball was hit and the goal was chalked off.
Tipperary carried the intensity from the end of the first-half into a ravenous second, as they
Five quickfire points at the start of the half brought them back to within a single point.
And then John McGrath, a demon for the Cork full-back line, scrambled in a goal to give them a 1-18 to 1-16.
Most read in GAA Hurling
Tipperary never looked back from there.
McGrath was upended by Eoin Downey for a penalty, with the Cork back shown a second yellow card for his sins.
Watch RTE pundits' contrasting reaction to full-time whistle of Tipperary's epic win over Kilkenny
The Premier full forward got his second goal to all-but put the game to bed, while goalkeeper Rhys Shelly denied Seamus Harnedy and Conor Lehane (penalty) with two huge saves late on.
There were tears of joy at the final whistle, while captain Ronan Maher took the time to
The beloved Clonoulty-Rossmore man - who made his senior Tipp debut against Cork - died aged 24 in 2022.
And in a moment that brought tears to the eyes of his gaffer, Maher dedicated the victory to his former teammate.
He said: "To one player who's no longer with us but is so much a big part of who we are: Dillon Quirke.
"We carried your spirit with us every step of the way.
"You were in the dressing room, you were on the field of play, you were in our hearts.
"We hope we did you and your family proud today."