Cork have romped to their biggest win over Tipperary in 80 years to book their place in the knockout stages of the All-Ireland SHC.
The result rendered the outcome of the Clare-Waterford tie in Ennis irrelevant as a Cork win would ensure Waterford’s elimination, though Liam Cahill’s side saw to that themselves in any event as they suffered a heavy defeat.
Cork now go on to meet the losers of the Joe McDonagh Cup final between Antrim and Kerry in the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final on the weekend of June 11/12.
In a madcap first half, Cork fell six points behind early on before recovering spectacularly to lead by 11 points at one stage.
Tipperary, needing to win by at least seven points to have any chance of staying in the Championship, made a good dent in that within 40 seconds as Jake Morris batted in a goal that was followed by three points by the sixth minute.
Cork were all over the place but finally got a grip after a Patrick Horgan free opened their account, with Conor Lehane quickly adding two points.
Conor Stakelum pushed Tipp four clear again and then came the game’s turning point. Noel McGrath stepped up to take a penalty for the home side in the 12th minute after Robert Downey dragged down Mark Kehoe and though his effort was sweetly struck, it came back out off the post and Cork swept upfield, their counter-attack ending with Alan Connolly hitting the net.
