Cork Set Up Finals Date With Kilkenny

Allianz Hurling League Division I Semi-Final: Cork 1-25 Tipperary 2-15

Cork delivered a stunning second half display to beat Tipperary by seven points at Semple Stadium, setting up an Allianz Hurling League final against old rivals Kilkenny for the first time since 2002.

After a relatively tame first half, the game crackled into life after the break when Brian O'Meara and then Eoin Kelly scored goals for Tipperary. However, Cork finished the game with a flourish, as manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy brought some of his young stars off the bench late in the game to help the Leesiders over the line in a cracking contest that was marred by a serious injury to their goalkeeper, Donal Óg Cusack.

Cork were trailing by 2-14 to 0-18 as late as the 56th minute, but a Luke O'Farrell goal sparked a period of complete dominance from the visitors, who hit six of the last seven points of the game to take a deserved win.

William Egan and Eoin Cadogan stood out in the Cork half-back line, while Pa Cronin, who scored two points from centre forward, was named as the man of the match. For Tipp, Pa Bourke shone in the first half scoring seven points, while O'Meara's size and strength caused the Cork full back line plenty of problems.

Inevitably, though, the focus will fall on the contribution of Conor Lehane, the young Midleton man scoring a remarkable point within seconds of coming on as a sub after 59 minutes, before setting up the returning Niall McCarthy for his third point in an assured first outing of the year.

Fittingly, it was Lehane and another youngster, Darren Sweetnam, both of whom were left on the bench despite starring in Cork's league campaign thus far, who rounded off the scoring with late points, as Cork streaked away from their Munster rivals in the closing stages.

The first half was remarkably even, with Pa Bourke dominating the scoring for Tipperary and Patrick Horgan doing likewise for the Rebels. Pa Bourke hit 0-7 alone in the first 35 minutes, including two points from play, the Thurles Sarsfields man causing Seán Óg Ó hAilpín some real problems on the wing.

Pa Bourke hit Tipp's first three points, while Cork had an array of scorers in the first 10 minutes, with John Gardiner, Egan and Horgan all finding their range.

McCarthy and Horgan again hit the scores that put Cork 0-5 to 0-3 ahead, before the flow of the game was interrupted by a serious injury to Cork goalkeeper Donal Óg Cusack.

The 35-year-old blocked a shot that appeared to be drifting over the bar and buckled badly when he landed on the ground, with Cork's medical team fearing the Cloyne man may have sustained a torn Achilles tendon.

When the game resumed, Horgan and Paudie O'Sullivan put Cork 0-7 to 0-4 ahead after 23 minutes, but Tipperary struck back, hitting four in a row to lead after a four-minute purple patch. James Woodlock started the sequence and then Bourke hit three on the trot.

Cork then moved 0-10 to 0-8 clear, but there were four minutes of added time because of Cusack's injury and Tipp made the most of it, with Brian O'Meara scoring from play and then Pa Bourke landing the equaliser on the stroke of half-time with his seventh point of the game.

The opening goal of came on 46 minutes, when O'Meara bullied his way through the Cork defence and drilled a low shot past Nash. Cork responded with points from Egan and Cronin, but Tipperary soon had second major, as sub Eoin Kelly drove a bullet of a shot to the back of the Cork net from a 21-yard free on 53 minutes.

With Cork trailing by two, Barry-Murphy's side delivered the perfect response, with O'Farrell cracking home a brilliant goal on 57 minutes before Horgan, Lehane and McCarthy all followed up with points within minutes to change the course of the game.

Although Tipp went in search of goals late on and forced a couple of fine saves from Nash, there was never any real danger that the rampaging Rebels were going to let a place in the final against Kilkenny slip from their grasp.