Courtesy of Jackie Cahill.

Electric Ireland Munster Minor Football Championship Quarter-Final

CORK 3-21 TIPPERARY 1-8

By Jackie Cahill at Semple Stadium, Thurles

CORK’S full-forward line impressed as the Rebels cruised to a 19-point victory over Tipperary in this evening’s Electric Ireland Munster minor football championship quarter-final.

Mark Cronin, Damien Gore and Cathail O’Mahony scored 3-13 between them as the Rebels marched on to next month’s semi-finals, with Tipp left to face Clare or Waterford through the back door in a play-off.

Cronin, brother of Cork senior Stephen, was the leading scorer for the visiting Rebels in front of a 1,l58 attendance in Thurles.

He scored 2-4, Gore added 1-5 and O’Mahony collected four points, split between play and frees, as Cork won at a canter.

Remarkably, just three points separated the counties in last year’s competition but Cork increased that margin by 16 tonight.

There was also a good contribution from captain Colm O’Callaghan, who kicked three points from play.

Cork could even afford the luxury of 15 wides – seven in the first half and eight in the second – en route to a facile win.

At half-time, Cork were comfortably ahead, leading by 1-9 to 0-4, having played against the wind from the start.

The Rebels signalled their intentions early, racing into a 0-2 to 0-0 lead before Tipp finally got off the mark in the tenth minute, Ryan Lambe kicking the first of his two points from play in the opening half.

Lambe and Conall Kennedy were the only Tipp players to score from play before half-time, as Shane Ryan added a free, but Cork purred along nicely.

The gap was out to six points – 1-5 to 0-1 – when Cronin, younger brother of senior player Stephen, volleyed home to reward Damien Gore’s excellent turn and attack on goal.

That strike was in the 17th minute and Cork kept the scoreboard ticking over until half-time.

Tipp did rally with two points in a row – Ryan and Kennedy on target – but Cork hit back with three on the spin to keep plenty of distance between the sides.

Lambe pointed for Tipp in the 29th minute but that was cancelled out by Jack McCarthy in first half stoppage time, as the visitors took an eight-point lead with them down the tunnel.

In that first half alone, Cronin and full-forward O’Mahony helped themselves to a combined 1-5, Cronin leading the way with 1-2.

The floodgates opened in the second half as Cork put their opponents to the sword emphatically.

Cronin collected his second goal in the 37th minute and, as Tipp went 11 minutes without a score, Gore notched Cork’s third goal seven minutes later.

There was a fine consolation goal for Tipp from sub Adam McGrath with nine minutes left but the hosts would finish the game with 14 players when Ryan was black-carded in stoppage time.

Elsewhere, Calvin Moran’s late goal sealed victory for Limerickover Waterford, as the Shannonsiders sealed a 1-10 to 0-9 victory.

The Waterford cause wasn’t helped by a red card for Billy Power in the first half and by half-time, the hosts were 0-7 to 0-2 clear at the Gaelic Grounds.

Niall McAuliffe, Noel Callanan and Sean Ryan collected a brace of points each for Limerick in the first half but they had to withstand a spirited second half fightback from Waterford.

With Tom Barron prominent, the Déise got back to within a point with time almost up, before Moran struck and Waterford had a late penalty shout waved away.

Meanwhile, there was a facile 2-16 to 1-6 victory for Kerry overClare, in a fixture played at Austin Stack Park, Tralee.

David Clifford and Donal O’Sullivan scored the early goals for the reigning Munster and All-Ireland champions, who led by a whopping 2-10 to 1-0 at half-time.

Clare finally got on the scoresheet when Gearoid Cahill netted midway through the first half but Clare were outclassed by the holders, despite registering six second half points.

Scorers for Cork: Mark Cronin 2-4 (0-2f), Damien Gore 1-5 (0-2f), Cathail O’Mahony 0-4 (2f), Colm O’Callaghan 0-3, Dylan Ward, Jack McCarthy, Evan Murphy, Colm Barrett & Cillian Myers-Murray 0-1 each.

Scorers for Tipperary: Adam McGrath 1-0, Ryan Lambe 0-3, Shane Ryan 0-2f, Riain Quigley, Conall Kennedy & Mark Stokes 0-1 each

CORK: Kevin McMahon; Lorcan Finn, William Ronan, Dylan Ward; Jason Harrington, Peter O’Driscoll, Jack McCarthy; Ryan Walsh, Mark Keane; Jack Murphy, Evan Murphy, Colm O’Callaghan; Mark Cronin, Cathail O’Mahony, Damien Gore. Subs: Sean Meehan for Harrington (temp., 16-24), Colm Barrett for J Murphy (39), Cillian Myers-Murray for O’Mahony (42), Sean Meehan for Harrington (43), Daniel O’Mahony for Ronan (45), John Corcoran for Finn (46), Dara Moynihan for E Murphy (50).

TIPPERARY: Jack Dolan; Jack Harney, Stephen Grogan, John Ryan; Ríain Quigley, Paul Devlin, Eanna Mc Bride; Conall Kennedy, Jake Flannery; Diarmuid Mulcahy, Shane Ryan, Calvin Boland; Mark Stokes, Ryan Lambe, Darragh Tynan. Subs: Darragh Bolger for Boland (h.t.), Cian O’Sullivan for McBride (39), Adam McGrath for Tynan (39), Darragh O’Leary for Devlin (47), Cavan McKenna for Ryan (49), Liam Cleary for Harney (51).

Referee: Richard Moloney (Limerick)