TIPPERARY feasted on a catastrophic Cork collapse with a phenomenal second-half display that ensured the famine will continue in the Rebel County.
A goal from Shane Barrett just before half-time threatened to be a killer blow for Tipp, who trailed by 1-16 to 0-13.
Tipperary won the All-Ireland SHCStephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
John McGrath scored two goals as they beat CorkPiaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Darragh McCarthy scored their other goal from a penaltySeb Daly/Sportsfile
Tipperary manager Liam Cahill celebrates with Conor Stakelum and Craig MorganSeb Daly/Sportsfile
But as Cork malfunctioned after the change of ends, their opponents were superior in every department while delivering a masterclass to land their 29th All-Ireland SHC title and first since 2019.
On the far side of the interval, Tipperary hit 3-14. A miserly 0-2 was all that Cork could muster in response. And as Tipp completed the last leg of their journey on the road to redemption, they were driven by Darragh McCarthy.
The 19-year-old forward was the villain when a pre-match strike on Seán O’Donoghue was punished with a red card in the Munster SHC hammering his side were subjected to by Cork in April. He was given his marching orders again in the All-Ireland semi-final win over Kilkenny.
However, McCarthy rebounded to produce a magnificent performance that saw him rack up 1-13 from 15 shots. His goal was an emphatically-dispatched penalty that was awarded for a foul on John McGrath that led to the dismissal of Eoin Downey.
Cork were subsequently handicapped by a numerical disadvantage for the final 20 minutes. However, the reality is that the writing was already on the wall as the National League and Munster champions were in meltdown.
From 13 second-half shots while playing into the breeze, Cork’s meagre return amounted to white flags raised by Barrett and sub Séamus Harnedy. They may have suspected it was not to be their day when three point attempts struck the post and a shot at goal from Harnedy rattled the crossbar.
Amid their ongoing quest for a first title since 2005, Cork are now reeling from losing back-to-back deciders. Indeed, this was their third All-Ireland final defeat in five seasons.
Pat Ryan’s side were red-hot favourites to end the Liam MacCarthy Cup wait, having already claimed National League and Munster Championship honours.
But this year belongs to Tipperary, who have been rewarded for their perseverance after they refused to be derailed by two comprehensive defeats to Cork in April.
Beaten by ten points in the Division 1 final, the difference between the teams was 15 points when the Premier returned to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh three weeks later.
However, they were a joy to watch at times as they found themselves on the other side of a 15-point margin here. Rock bottom after failing to win a Championship match in 2024, Tipp are back on top in 2025 after winning six in a row since the provincial loss to Cork 12 weeks earlier.
Tipperary have suffered greatly from the much-vaunted goal threat posed by Cork, who raised 15 green flags across their previous four Championship meetings with Liam Cahill’s side.
But opportunities were scarce for the Rebels as they were contained effectively by Tipp, who denied the likes of Brian Hayes and Alan Connolly the type of space that allowed the pair to combine for five goals in the semi-final against Dublin.
The goal hero here was John McGrath, who bagged a brace for the third time in this campaign on a day when he claimed his third Celtic Cross.
He gave Tipp the lead for the first time in the game on 43 minutes by capitalising on Patrick Collins’ decision to bat away a Jake Morris shot that was about to sail narrowly over the bar.
The heavy touch from the Cork goalkeeper was pounced on by McGrath, who kept his cool to put his side into a 1-18 to 1-16 lead. From there, they never looked back.
Barrett hit back with a point for Cork. It was their first score of the second half and took 11 minutes to arrive. By then, Tipp’s second-half tally stood at 1-7.
As Cahill’s men gradually dominated proceedings, their belief grew. So too did the sense of inevitability about the outcome.
For a Cork team whose flair and skill has thrilled their supporters all summer, even the basics were botched. Pick-ups were continually fluffed and cheap turnovers were coughed up. They were utterly awful.
Tipperary, on the other hand, were absolutely awesome. Led by inspirational skipper Ronan Maher, they set a pace and standard that Cork simply could not live with.
In the first ever All-Ireland final clash of the Munster rivals, both teams looked jittery at times during a somewhat error-strewn opening quarter that saw Tipp rack up six wides.
Barrett was in blistering form for Cork in the first half as he mined 1-3 from four shots. Rookie wing-forward Diarmuid Healy also justified his continued selection by hitting three points of his own before the break, as well as setting up two others.
When a lovely over-the-shoulder handpass from Jason Forde engineered a 19th-minute point for John McGrath, Tipperary reduced the deficit to the minimum for the sixth time.
Soon they were presented with a chance to grab the lead as a Sam O’Farrell pass released Eoghan Connolly, only for the Cashel King Cormacs man to drag his goal attempt wide.
REBELS WITH A CAUSE
Cork responded with an inspirational score from Patrick Horgan, who was set up by some good work from Barrett. And they gradually began to get a foothold approaching half-time.
The lead stood at 0-16 to 0-12 for Cork when Jason Forde was denied a 34th-minute goal for Tipp due to a square ball.
A McCarthy point left just a puck of a ball between the teams, before Barrett netted brilliantly as he finished off a fine move involving Rob Downey and Mark Coleman.
The goal gave Cork a solid platform for the second half, yet the game quickly got away from them as Tipp hit an unanswered 0-5 before McGrath added the first of their three goals.
After a subtle nudge into Eoin Downey’s back allowed McGrath to make space for himself to gather a long delivery, he was then hauled down by the Cork full-back, who was subsequently shown a second yellow card.
Collins had no chance of stopping the ferocious penalty that followed from McCarthy and Tipp led by 2-20 to 1-17.
With ten minutes of normal time remaining, McGrath’s second goal was the final nail in the coffin. Again he profited from a high dropping ball, this time meeting it in the air with a delightful flick.
After Hayes was tripped by Maher, Cork were awarded a stoppage-time penalty that saw Conor Lehane’s bid for a consolation goal thwarted by a Rhys Shelly save.
And before the celebrations began for Tipp, it was fitting that beloved stalwart Noel McGrath capped the victory with the final score of the day.
TIPPERARY: R Shelly 0-1; R Doyle 0-1, R Maher, M Breen; E Connolly 0-1, C Morgan, B O’Mara; W Connors 0-1, C Stakelum 0-1; A Ormond 0-2, S O’Farrell, J Morris 0-2; D McCarthy 1-13, 0-9f, 1-0p, J McGrath 2-2, J Forde 0-2. Subs: S Kennedy for O’Mara 50 mins, A Tynan for Morgan 56, N McGrath 0-1 for O’Farrell 60, D Stakelum for C Stakelum 64, O O’Donoghue for Ormond 66.
CORK: P Collins; S O’Donoghue, E Downey, N O’Leary 0-1; C Joyce, R Downey, M Coleman; T O’Mahony, D Fitzgibbon 0-2; D Dalton 0-1f, S Barrett 1-4, D Healy 0-3; P Horgan 0-4, 3f, B Hayes 0-1, A Connolly 0-1. Subs: S Harnedy 0-1 for Dalton 44 mins, D Cahalane for Healy 56, C Lehane for Horgan 58, S Kingston for Connolly 64, T O’Connell for O’Mahony 67.
REFEREE: L Gordon (Galway)
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