At the time it was a fork in the road. Cork got better; Tipp entered a re-evaluation process. Only in the last month have the clouds parted in Tipp’s inner hemisphere, but where has the process left them? Better than they were in Killarney? Or much the same? This is what they have: a brilliant goalie, five good backs and an embattled No 6, whose confidence was again torpedoed in the semi-final. They have a centre field with the athleticism to stay with Cork’s pair and the class to deliver three or four points from play.
They have one serious target for puck-outs in the half-forward line, Colin Morrissey, and in Eoin Kelly they have one of the three best forwards in the game. They have Mícheál Webster too, but they can’t be exactly sure what he is yet. If he turns into another Anthony Crosse, Tipp will be happy — much as we failed to appreciate Crosse at the time. Webster’s baiting of Brian Lohan was both impressive and a hostage to fortune in the sense that Diarmuid O’Sullivan has had three weeks to line him up and five weeks to stew on his flawed performance against Waterford.
O’Sullivan has been troubled by tall full-forwards in the past: Brian Begley (2001 and 2002), Martin Comerford (2003) and for the past two years Dan Shanahan has plundered goals for Waterford by commanding a dropping ball under O’Sullivan’s nose. But it will be a surprise if O’Sullivan doesn’t rise to the imperative of the day and knock Webster back on his heels.
There are doubts about the form of some Cork players. After a mixed 2004 Ben O’Connor is struggling and Timmy McCarthy made a very subdued comeback for Castlelyons in the local championship, all of which is compounded by the weakness of Cork’s attacking reserves on the bench.
The other Kieran Murphy made a reasonable impression when he came on against Waterford, but his striking needs to be much quicker at this level and Jonathan O’Callaghan has failed to build on the promise he showed in the second half of last summer. Cork’s selected attack needs to click.
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Overall what Cork have is a balanced, battle-hardened, mature, self-aware group of players, comfortable with each other and their system of playing. Some of the hand-passing was excessive against Waterford but that’s been highlighted and addressed. They’re better than Tipperary and even if Tipp take them into the last 10 minutes, they won’t take them to the wire. Cork by five.