Cork 3-15 Tipperary 0-14:Cork set down a strong marker for this year's championship with an impressive demolition job of Tipperary in their Munster SHC quarter-final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh today. It's back to the drawing board for Tipp who relinquished their Munster title with little resistance.
There were starring roles throughout the Cork side but Pat Horgan (2-02) and Aisake O'hAilpin (1-01) were the standout performers on the day. The Rebels will now take on Limerick in their June 20th semi-final.
Dennis Walsh's side were superior in all departments across the pitch and reduded their opponents to just one score in the second half.
Horgan's first goal came from a penalty in the 13th minute when Aisake caught the sliothar on the square and booted it into the net. The referee's whistle had already blown for a foul on Pauric Maher and Horgan stepped up to blast into the net.
Aisake was instrumental in Horgan’s second goal in the 23rd minute when he reached and caught the ball before it dropped but fell into the path of Horgan, who made no mistake when firing into the roof of the net.
By this stage Tipp manager Liam Sheedy was working out how best to the stem the flow by rearranging his defence as they were unable to cope with Cork’s considerable aerial threat.
Cork went into the break with a 2-05 to 0-9 lead before the floodgates opened in the second period and Tipp were simply unable to keep pace with their opponents.
Approaching the hour mark Aisake finally got the reward for his hard graft when he scored Cork’s third goal. He gathered the ball from Jerry O'Connor and neatly rounded Brendan Cummins and found the net to open up a 10-point gap.
It was hardly end-to-end drama but Donal Og Cusack made arguably one of the saves of the championship, even at this early stage, from a well-taken effort by Eoin Kelly.
Between the goals, Cork were able to pick points off for fun, while Lar Corbett and Kelly tried to keep the Tipp scoreline ticking over.
However there was only ever going to be one winner and, on this evidence, others will surely sit up and take notice.
Leinster SHC Quarter-finals
Antrim 3-16 Offaly 2-26
Wexford 1-14 Galway 2-22
Munster SHC Quarter-final
Tipperary 0-14 Cork 3-15
Ulster SHC Quarter-finals
Derry 0-15 London 2-12
Down 4-24 Armagh 0-09
Connacht SFC Preliminary Round
London 0-06 Roscommon 0-14
Ulster SFC Quarter-final
Donegal 2-10 Down 1-15