Cork manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy believes Tipperary's greater experience proved the difference in yesterday's Munster Senior Hurling Championship semi-final.
Noel McGrath's goal proved crucial as the 14-man Premier County eked out a 1-22 to 0-24 win at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
The defending Munster champions managed to hold out, despite having John O'Brien sent off with just over 20 minutes remaining.
"I thought we played well at times," opined Barry-Murphy.
"Maybe we showed a bit of inexperience at times, as well.
"Overall, I'm disappointed for the lads. We had chances to win it maybe. I suppose also, to be fair, the extra man helped us certainly.
"But I think you can’t deny Tipperary. They were just probably the better team on the day."
Cork had a number of goal chances, but their youthful players opted to settle for points rather than test Tipperary goalkeeper Brendan Cummins.
"Tipp are a very, very experienced team. In fairness they created a great goal chance and when they got it they took it," said Barry-Murphy.
"I haven't seen the goal that was disallowed for us yet so I can’t comment on it. But, in fairness, Noel McGrath got a fantastic goal and they worked that situation very, very well.
"Maybe when we had opportunities in similar situations we might learn to do something in the future. It takes time to get to that level and we're working very hard to get to that level."
The Leesiders manager, who left veterans Seán Óg Ó h’Ailpín and John Gardiner on the bench, was happy with the impact of young substitutes Cian McCarthy, Daniel Kearney and Luke O’Farrell.
Barry-Murphy continued: “I thought some of the lads who came in as substitutions worked very well for us. They made a difference and showed that they can play at this level.
“I'm just very disappointed for the players. They’ve made a huge effort. But that’s the way it goes. You win some, you lose some.”
The Rebels’ performance was markedly better than the one they produced when Kilkenny hammered them 3-21 to 0-16 in the Allianz League Division 1 final.
“You’re never happy when you lose. But I suppose after the league final, which was a big setback for us, the way we played, or we never played on the day, that was a big improvement certainly.
“I’m just not sure how we react to being beaten today. We’re going forward now to the back door and that can be a difficult role to pick up players. That’s our job now. We’ll move on and hopefully learn from today and take the positives from it.”
