Tipperary 2-12 Cork 0-16Defender Ritchie McGrath was the toast of Tipperary after his 90-metre point in the last minute helped steer his side to a hard-earned win in the Munster Minor Hurling Championship final in Thurles yesterday.
Tipperary were completing a hat-trick of provincial titles at this level.
For a long time Cork looked the likely winners, but Tipperary's Shane Long grabbed two goals at vital stages and it was these that kept the winners on course for the title.
Cork were the better side in a low-key first half. Aided by the breeze, they picked off their scores confidently, but Long's first goal, in the 12th minute, offset Cork's early points.
Tipperary suffered a setback with the loss of full back Seán Ryan through injury in the eighth minute and at half-time Cork led 0-8 to 1-3.
Cork continued to have the better of things early in the second half and were four points clear in the 16th minute.
Then Long pounced again - his second goal sparking a rally that had Tipperary ahead by a point in the 21st minute.
Cork came again, however, and hit the front with three minutes to go.
The champions held their nerve. Long levelled and in the last minute Ritchie McGrath hit a stunning 90-metre point for the lead.
In injury time Ritchie Ruth added a point from a free to put the final touch to a thrilling Tipperary win.
The Tipperary mentors can be very pleased at the manner in which their side kept to their task all through.
While McGrath's long-distance point brought the crowd to its feet, Long's two goals were crucial as were the displays of Conor Hayes, Paddy Stapleton, David Sheppard and substitute Shane O'Brien.
Cork's outstanding players were Niall Horgan, Michael Aherne, Brendan Barry, Brian Canty and Mattie Foley.
TIPPERARY: D Egan; I Delaney, S Ryan, C Hayes; N Teehan, P Stapleton, R McGrath (0-1); K Bergin, J McCarthy; D Sheppard (0-2), D Young (0-1), J Woodlock; S Long (2-1), R Ruth (0-4), D Morrissey (0-1). Subs: D McGrath for S Ryan, M Heffernan for McCarthy, S O'Brien (0-2) for Woodlock, B O'Sullivan for Bergin, P Ryan for Young.
CORK: C De Barra; E O'Sullivan, N Horgan, M Foley; S O'Neill, M Aherne (0-1), B Clifford; M Harrington, D Lucey (0-1); K Canty, B Coleman (0-1), B Canty (0-2); B Barry (0-3), A Ó hAilpín (0-5), M Allen (0-2). Subs: B Ring (0-1) for Lucey, S Cronin for Harrington, M O'Sullivan for Allen.
Referee: D O'Driscoll (Limerick).
lA memorial is to be erected in Thurles, Co Tipperary, to the legendary Thurles Sarsfield hurler Tom Semple, after whom the local stadium is named.
The memorial in St Mary's cemetery, where Semple is buried, will be built by a group of local historians.
They have already built memorials to former world heavyweight boxing champion Paddy Ryan and Sgt Patrick O'Dwyer, who represented Ireland twice in the Olympic Games in boxing.
