Tyrone 1-18
Cork 0-17
THE consequences of defeat – Cork plummeted from first to third in Group 3 of the All-Ireland senior football championship on an afternoon that dented the Rebels’ hopes of a long summer.
Table-toppers before a ball was kicked on Saturday, if Cork avoided defeat to Tyrone in Tullamore, then John Cleary’s men would have gone directly into an All-Ireland quarter-final. Instead, this loss – which halts the momentum from the wins against Clare and Donegal – saw Cork drop to third and set up an away preliminary quarter-final against Louth this weekend. It’s an extra game and no rest between games.
‘We are disappointed, we should have been more up at half time and we weren’t – we missed scores and it came back to bite us,’ Cleary said after, referencing Cork’s 0-10 to 0-9 half-time lead, before highlighting how Tyrone punished Cork when. Chris Óg Jones was black-carded in the second half.
‘We conceded 1-4 during the black card in the second half, which was a big moment in the game. Tyrone showed their experience coming down the home straight, they managed the game better than we did. They were cooler and calmer when getting their scores, whereas we tended to rush things a little bit; we weren’t as composed as we should be and we paid the price in the end.’
The teams went almost point for point during the first half, with Steven Sherlock, Mark Cronin and Chris Óg Jones spearheading a Rebels team missing the injured Brian Hurley (hamstring). Cork’s finishing flourish to the first half saw the Rebels kick three of the last four points to nudge in front by one, 0-10 to 0-9.
A missed Paul Walsh goal chance and a Chris Óg Jones black card in the second half preceded wing back Ben Cullen's 48th minute goal that was the key score for Tyrone. With Darragh Canavan and Darren McCurry adding points, soon the lead swelled to five and Cork were playing a game of catch-up they didn’t win.
Not even a Conn Kilpatrick could knock Tyrone off track, and Cork must regroup fast for another trip to Louth.
‘You have to manage those clutch moments. At times I felt we rushed it too much, even when we were four points down. We had a few cheap turnovers, which cost us,’ Cleary lamented, but Cork need to pick themselves up fast for this weekend’s must-win clash.
Scorers
Tyrone: Darragh Canavan 0-5 (1f); Niall Morgan 0-3 (1f, 1 45); Ben Cullen 1-0, Darren McCurry 0-3 (1f); Ruairi Canavan 0-2; Conn Kilpatrick, Sean O'Donnell, Michael O'Neill, Niall Devlin, Michael McKernan 0-1 each.
Cork: Steven Sherlock 0-8 (6f); Mark Cronin 0-4 (2f); Chris Óg Jones 0-3; Brian O'Driscoll 0-2.
Cork: Christopher Kelly; Kevin Flahive, Daniel O'Mahony, Tommy Walsh; Maurice Shanley, Rory Maguire, Matty Taylor; Ian Maguire, Colm O'Callaghan; Sean Powter, Paul Walsh, Brian O'Driscoll; Mark Cronin, Steven Sherlock, Chris Og Jones.
Subs: Ruairi Deane for Powter (49), Conor Corbett for Walsh (54), Sean Meehan for Flahive (66), Cathail O'Mahony for Cronin (68), Killian O'Hanlon for O'Driscoll (70).
Tyrone: Niall Morgan; Niall Devlin, Padraig Hampsey, Michael McKernan; Ben Cullen, Mattie Donnelly, Aidan Clarke; Brian Kennedy, Conn Kilpatrick; Ciaran Daly, Ruairi Canavan, Michael O'Neill; Darren McCurry, Darragh Canavan, Sean O'Donnell.
Subs: Peter Harte for O'Neill (ht), Cathal McShane for Ruairi Canavan (64), Shea O'Hare for O'Donnell (68), Cormac Quinn for Cullen (69), Tiernan Quinn for Darragh Canavan (73).
Referee: Paddy Neilan (Roscommon).
