GAELIC GAMES:THE CORK hurlers consigned the strike-disrupted 2009 to an, albeit substantial, footnote in GAA history with yesterday's 1-16 to 1-15 defeat of Tipperary – rulers of Munster in their absence – to give a warm feeling of revival for the locals in the 9,291 Páirc Uí Chaoimh crowd.
So, the Rebels return to the top table; the hurlers following the footballers into a national league final where Galway will provide stern opposition on May 2nd: call it the maiden voyage of the 2010 hurling summer.
And all this with another round still to play on April 18th. To keep matters spicy, Galway and Cork must face each other then and again a fortnight later. No harm for the spectator but a hard conundrum for managers and players to approach. Cork manager Denis Walsh will rotate his panel and surely John McIntyre will do something similar with Galway.
“Happy to be in the final. We are still unbeaten,” Walsh remarked. “It’s the cliché of every game as it comes.”
Tipperary looked set fair to earn safe passage to the league decider with an early second-half revival forged off a Paul Kelly goal. Aisake Ó hAilpín was an aerial nightmare for Padraic Maher early on but it was the 1-7 off Patrick Horgan’s hurley that really told.
It got really interesting at 1-14 apiece but Horgan held his nerve.
“We looked dead and buried 10 minutes into the second-half, but it was a great response from the lads,” Walsh continued. “Next week now gives me a chance to experiment. Some lads came in today and did the business and we will look at more next week. We had planned to rotate. Luckily it has worked out or you would be looking at me differently!”
Out west in Salthill, Galway did just enough to keep Dublin struggling near the foot of Division One with a 0-17 to 0-15 result. Joe Canning returned from Portumna duty and was on target but also came off injured before the finish.
High stakes then when Dublin host Limerick in the last round. Justin McCarthy’s fresh-faced team can shelve their inferior points difference as the winner avoids relegation. They were dismissed early by Kilkenny yesterday but found some rhythm to only go down by 2-17 to 0-16.
Waterford are positioned in an irrelevant third place after beating Offaly 1-19 to 1-16 yesterday.
Their manager Davy Fitzgerald was unhappy with the performance and there appears to be some tension rumbling just beneath the surface as Eoin Kelly flung his hurley away in disgust after being withdrawn, in fairness, for John Mullane.
“I wasn’t happy with our guys at half-time; they weren’t winning the 50-50 balls. We told a few home truths,” said Fitzgerald. “You won’t be playing on this Waterford team unless you work very hard, no matter who you are.”
At least Tony Browne made a brief cameo, returning for his 19th season, and they have a trip to Kilkenny for their last outing before championship consumes their thoughts.
Meanwhile, Dublin won their ninth Leinster under-21 football title by beating Westmeath 1-12 to 0-9 on their Parnell Park patch. They did a good job of streaking into a 0-9 to 0-3 half-time lead before Westmeath hauled them back to a single point.
But a smartly-taken late goal from Ciarán Dorney guaranteed an All-Ireland semi-final meeting with Roscommon in two weeks.
With a host of their All-Ireland-winning minor panel of three years back still available for selection, Roscommon captured the Connacht crown by defeating Sligo on Saturday night.
