Cork secured their place in the All-Ireland series after they put in their best performance since 2018 in defeating their great rivals from Tipperary in Thurles this afternoon.

After a horrible start to the Munster championship, where Cork shipped heavy losses to Clare and Limerick, the Rebels have transformed their season over the past two weekends, recording two victories away from home.

There was a lot for Cork supporters to be happy about after this game, despite the fact that they trailed by 1-3 to no score after five minutes.

Mark Coleman hit 0-3 from wing-back in his brightest performance of the year, Ciarán Joyce continues to blossom next to him while Patrick Collins remains assured between the sticks. Up front, Conor Lehane was imperious, hitting 0-8, six of which came from play in the opening period.

For Tipperary it was a disappointing end to a challenging campaign.

They started well here but once Cork found their groove, they had no answer as the Premier side ended with 14 men following the dismissal of Alan Flynn.

Tipp, who needed a heavy win to stand any chance of progression, hit 1-3 in the opening five minute with Jake Morris bagging the goal while Noel McGrath hit 0-2 and Jason Forde was also on target.

Cork settled with a free from Patrick Horgan before the awesome Lehane hit his opening two scores of the game. Conor Stakelum then put Tipp four clear before the game was turned on its head.

Noel McGrath stood over a penalty with a chance to put Tipp seven clear, Patrick Collins saved brilliantly and moments later Alan Connolly had the ball in the Tipp net. Lehane then levelled it at 1-4 each before Cork went into overdrive.

Robbie O'Flynn gave them they lead, Darragh Fitzgibbon slalomed through for another goal, Lehane hit 0-3, as did Horgan, while Shane Kingston picked off his opening two scores of the day.

All Tipp had in response was two Noel McGrath frees as they trailed by 2-14 to 1-6 as the interval approached. Credit to the home side, they hit the last three scores of the half through Forde, Dillon Quirke and Ronan Maher to trail by 2-14 to 1-9 at the break.

Tipperary needed a miracle in the second half, and as hard as they endeavoured, it never looked like happening. McGrath kept the scoreboard ticking over, as did Jake Morris, but Cork never looked in trouble.

Séamus Harnedy and Mark Coleman hit three second half points each, Tim O’Mahony plundered 1-1 from the bench, Jack O’Connor hit 0-2, while Coleman was imperious as the extra man.

Tipp no face into a winter of re-building, while Cork will now play the winners of the Joe McDonagh Cup with a place in the All-Ireland quarterfinals at stake.

Cork: Patrick Collins; Niall O’Leary, Robert Downey, Seán O’Donoghue; Damien Cahalane, Ciarán Joyce, Mark Coleman (0-3, 0-1 free); Darragh Fitzgibbon (1-0), Luke Meade; Robbie O’Flynn (0-3),Patrick Horgan (0-5, 3 frees, 1 ’65), Conor Lehane (0-8, 1 free); Shane Kingston (0-4), Séamus Harnedy (0-3), Alan Connolly (1-1).

Subs: Tim O’Mahony (1-1) for Horgan (43 mins), Tommy O’Connell for Meade (56 mins), Jack O’Connor (0-2) for O’Flynn (60 mins), Ger Millerick for Downey (65 mins), Shane Barrett for Lehane (65 mins).

Tipperary: Barry Hogan; Cathal Barrett, Ronan Maher (0-1, free), Craig Morgan; Dillon Quirke (0-1), Séamus Kennedy, Barry Heffernan; Conor Stakelum (0-1), Dan McCormack; Ger Browne, Noel McGrath (0-13, 0-12 frees), Michael Breen; Jason Forde (0-5), Mark Kehoe, Jake Morris (1-2).

Subs: Alan Flynn for Heffernan (h/t), Patrick Maher (0-1) for Browne (h/t), James Quigle for Barrett (inj, 40 mins), Conor Bowe for Breen (46 mins), Gearóid O’Connor for McCormack (68 mins).

Referee: Seán Stack (Dublin)

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