Munster SHC Final: Nicky English gives his verdict on an entertaining Munster hurling final in Thurles.

From a hurling perspective, the championship really needed a good game and it got a pretty good Munster final. The second half was a bit disappointing in that everyone would have liked to see more scores, but there was a massive atmosphere all around the town yesterday. This was a big day.

Tipperary gave huge commitment and just came up short, but Cork knew they'd been in a match. They made a great start with Larry Corbett's goal, but a couple of other excellent chances fell to Diarmaid Fitzgerald.

Unfortunately, he's not a natural forward. He's done a fantastic job in the attack this season, but he wasn't able to score the two goals that would have put Cork under real pressure.

For the first one he was pushed wide and the second was a good save by Donal Óg Cusack. But for Tipp to win, they needed to take everything that came their way.

At half-time, I felt that Cork were rattled and you could sense the adrenaline from the Tipperary supporters with the wind in their favour after the interval.

Cork's half backs added to their reputation. They have everything that epitomises the Cork team: athleticism, hurling skill, desire and professionalism. They're exceptional, whereas Tipperary's half forwards have been below average - the team's weakest line. Two of them were replaced and it was an area that Tipp didn't look able to win ball.

Cork's midfield is their other key area and Shane McGrath did a fantastic job fighting against the tide, but Paul Kelly, despite a rousing point in the first half, missed chances in the second and his marker Tom Kenny did an awful lot of hurling.

Tipperary scored five points in the second half and that's not enough to win a match like this and playing with the wind, you would have expected more. Cork's half backs stepped up after half-time and that was one of the key differences although the champions weren't at their best on the day and I didn't expect that they would be because they were so high against Clare.

Having said that, the movement of the Cork team was fantastic, but I think they overdo the short passing, a trap they fell into against Clare last year. They didn't get ball into their full forwards. Admittedly, Tipperary's full backs were outstanding, but Cork could have put them under more pressure with quicker ball.

Paul Ormonde had a difficult start, looked off the pace and probably should have done better for Brian Corcoran's goal. At that stage, Tipperary's bringing him back looked like a gamble that hadn't come off, but he showed the strength of his personality to come back so strongly into the match and play his part in a great defensive effort.

Brendan Cummins's puck-outs were 50-50 ball at best with everyone having to compete in their own position. On the other hand, Cork's movement for the puck-outs was outstanding and it's one of the differences between them and everyone else at the moment.

If Tipp exposed weaknesses in Cork it would have been in the half forwards. Like Tipperary, they had to replace two of them and didn't look like getting scores. It's lucky for everyone else that they are so low-scoring. Overall, Cork didn't look all-conquering yesterday, but they will have been happy to survive.

One negative for Tipperary was that Brian Murphy had the better of Eoin Kelly. He has a lot of pace and is exactly the sort of corner back who's going to trouble Eoin. Then again Eoin is a corner forward and is dependent on the ball coming through. Tipp couldn't get enough past the Cork half backs and when the puck-outs went long there wasn't enough movement and that didn't help Eoin.

Tipperary have improved. They needed to show progress after beating Limerick, but didn't when they played Waterford. Yesterday, they showed it. The key area is the half forward line.

The options are limited but the line has to start winning enough ball to get through to Eoin Kelly and Larry Corbett. This was a very dangerous game for Cork, but they were disciplined and organised and still look the team to beat in the All-Ireland. We've yet to see Kilkenny or Galway in serious action and Waterford might recover, but at the moment Cork are out in front.

Tipperary need to win something. They're unlikely to win the All-Ireland so yesterday was a chance, but it's not easy as Brendan Cummins can testify. Yesterday was his seventh Munster final and he's still won only one. But Tipp supporters will be happy enough with the performance, which gives them something to build on going into the All-Ireland quarter-finals.