Holders Cork ran out deserving winners of the under-21 hurling championship at Thurles yesterday. The final margin of five points distorted the winners' superiority and flattered an outplayed Galway side whose two goals came in the last three minutes.

The result wasn't really in doubt once Cork started the second half powerfully with four unanswered points. Galway needed a good start after the interval after playing quite resourcefully against the breeze for the first half-hour.

In a match where few players shared the scoring honours - three on each side accounting for all but a point of the total - Cork's attack was the more prolific and the team was more accomplished throughout.

Although the Cork forwards took good scores, there were equally valuable contributions from defenders Wayne Sherlock, at corner back, and wings Derek Barrett and Sean O hAilpin. Sherlock, in particular, hurled with assurance and marked Galway's illustrious strike forward Kevin Broderick out of the match.

The Cork midfield improved greatly after the break and Mickey O'Connell's switch from wing forward brought about a change for the better.

The picture hadn't opened in such rosy fashion for Cork. After the first quarter, Galway looked the more sprightly of the teams, whereas the champions were fitful and struggled to impose themselves on proceedings.

Galway shuffled their full-back line before the throw-in and to an extent the deployment worked. Senior player Sean O'Farrell was well marked at full forward by John Feeney and although the Carrigtwohill man moved around a bit, he endured a frustrating afternoon and was eventually substituted towards the end.

Vinnie Maher switched to right corner back to try and stifle the menace of Joe Deane. Although Deane didn't score from play he was fouled for a couple of the seven-point tally from frees which he bagged throughout the afternoon.

In the other corner, Liam Madden had a hard time on Brian O'Keeffe who helped himself to both of Cork's goals.

Before the scores began to flow for the Munster champions, a couple of adjustments were made in attack with O'Farrell dropping back to centre forward, Timmy McCarthy moving to the wing and Neil Ronan going in at full forward.

The moves appeared to have at least one beneficiary, O'Connell, whose two points in a minute overturned Galway's only lead of the afternoon, 0-3 to 0-2 by the 12th minute. The match took a significant turn in the 20th minute when the excellent Sherlock cleared to O'Connell, whose pass unleashed O'Keeffe who beat two defenders before scoring the first goal of the afternoon for a 1-4 to 0-3 lead.

Galway rallied and followed Cork, point for point, to the interval. Further switches in Cork's forwards saw Deane move into full forward and significantly O'Connell and McCarthy swap wings - a switch which brought three points from play for O'Connell.

Trailing 0-6 to 1-7 at half-time, Galway needed a good start if they were to create a momentum which might harness the wind. Instead, three frees from Deane and a point from O'Connell greatly inflated the westerners' task.

Cork were cracking along by this stage. Half-time substitute John Anderson added some pep to the attack and O'Connell was helping Austin Walsh establish equilibrium against Alan Kerins and Padraig Walshe. There was some respite for Galway when Diarmuid O'Sullivan's 42nd-minute penalty, awarded for a foul on O'Keeffe, was saved by Galway goalkeeper Terence Grogan.

Points were swapped until the hammer-blow fell five minutes from the end. Deane's free was batted out of the Galway goal and O'Keeffe buried the ball in the net. Cork were dawdling to victory with a 10-point lead, 2-13 to 0-10. Late goals came from a Eugene Cloonan free and a tapped-in rebound from Mark Kerins, who had faded after a bright start. But there was no disputing the title's rightful destination.

Cork: D Og Cusack; M Prendergast, D O'Sullivan, W Sherlock; D Barrett, D Murphy, S Og O hAilpin; A Walsh, L Mannix; N Ronan, T McCarthy, M O'Connell (0-7, one free, one 65); B O'Keeffe (2-0), S O'Farrell, J Deane (0- 7, all frees). Subs: J Anderson (0-1) for Mannix (half-time); B O'Connor for O'Farrell (56 mins).

Galway: T Grogan; V Maher, J Feeney, L Madden; F Healy, M Healy, G Lynskey; P Walshe (0-2, one 65), A Kerins; R Gantley, C Connaughton, M Cullinane; K Broderick, M Kerins (1-3), E Cloonan (1-5, 1-3 from frees). Subs: D Shaughnessy for Connaughton (halftime); R Cullinane for Gantley (55 mins).

Referee: D Murphy (Wexford).