GAELIC GAMES:WELL THAT was a ratings buster if nothing else. Cork, back from the barricades again with their heads still full of idealism and adventure, were killed off in the Munster championship yesterday before they could even weave themselves into this season's storyline. Tipperary by six points and pulling away was the sort of jag in the script which nobody foresaw.

A couple of weeks into the series indeed and the scriptwriters have opted for a radical change of direction. Cork and Waterford have been written out of the show with the Justin McCarthy character being killed off in shady circumstances.

That leaves bigger roles for old favourites Tipp and Clare and the usual walk-on role for popular character actors Limerick.

A day of diffused sunlight by the Lee yielded a day of gentle revolution. Cork, for whom this place has been an impregnable house and home, repelling 85 years' worth of imperialist intent from the Tipp side, found yesterday the price of transition is short-term failure.

This heroic Cork side, who have fought so many battles together on and off the pitch, step away now and gird their loins to see if they have one last campaign in them.

"It is hard to pick up morale after a defeat like that," said John Gardiner glumly afterwards. Yet that is the challenge.

The day belonged to this young Tipperary side, who have recovered from the multiple traumas of last summer to reach a Munster final they should start as favourites. They are unbeaten this year, have won the National League title already and have a defence which is parsimonious in an aggressive and old-style way. They limited Cork to five points in the second half yesterday.

And they have a forward unit worth taking seriously. Young Séamus Callinan stepped into the breach yesterday at centre forward and scored three from play. Lar Corbett was excellent again and Eoin Kelly has been around so long we almost take his excellence for granted at this stage.

At Tipp's time of greatest trouble yesterday their greatest forward delivered. Tipperary had let Cathal Naughton ramble free for the first 20 minutes and his speed and accuracy had caused them severe problems. Cork were playing confident hurling and having split open the centre of Tipp's defence for a Ben O'Connor goal after just seven minutes they tagged on another four quick points and led by seven when the magnificent Seán Óg Ó hAilpín scored in the 23rd minute.

But then Kelly latched on to a ball under the attention of his old friend Brian Murphy, turned and somehow managed to flash the ball past Donal Óg Cusask in the Cork goal. A wonderful score to which Tipp gladly tagged three points before the break.

"We were going in 11-4 down," said Kelly talking about the goal as if it had nothing to do with him, "and with that goal and the few quick points we were going in 11-10 down. That's some difference."

It is. Cork, sporting a young and callow forward line, had the chances, including a Paudie O'Sullivan penalty in the second half, but they found the economy needed for Munster championship hurling had deserted them.

Tipperary, after a league campaign during which they grew visibly and survived a few close finishes, knew they had the right stuff for the final 15 minutes. They looked confident, fit and unburdened by the chains of history as they pulled away, storing point after point on the board against the eventuality of a Cork revival.

For Tipp's young manager Liam Sheedy it was another coup. When Babs Keating vanished last year the smart money said with Tipp's underage reserves still maturing the job to have wasn't the one which Sheedy took but the one which would become available after Sheedy worked away for a few years maturing the wine.

He has proved them wrong and the hordes of the returned faithful who spilled on to the field afterwards partying as if it were 1989 seemed to have caught the spirit of this young side.

"We finished very strong," said Sheedy. "When we got the lead we really kicked on. We had a lot of tight matches in the league campaign and that stood to us today.

"We said if we can keep this thing tight till the last 15 minutes we are in with a chance. We are in good shape and we have a lot of work done."

Sheedy's subs worked a treat yesterday. Pat Kerwick scored a majestic point while Micheál Webster came in with the specific intent of pulling Diarmuid O'Sullivan's tail, scoring one point, creating a free and generally ensuring any ball that went into the full-forward line was at least breaking ball for others to feed off.

So Tipperary return to training tomorrow evening to prepare for the winners of Limerick and Clare.

A novel Munster championship with a couple of episodes left.