Tipp topple Cork in All-Ireland hurling final

Tipperary captain Ronan Maher lifts the Liam MacCarthy Cup

Tipperary produced a stunning second half performance to claim a 29th All-Ireland hurling title and first since 2019 with a 3-27 to 1-18 win over Cork at Croke Park on Sunday.

Cork had held the upper hand when the sides met in the league final and Munster championship, but this was Tipperary's day as they produced the goods in the first meeting between the counties in an All-Ireland final with a 21-point turnaround in the second period.

Darragh McCarthy was the star of the show with a flawless performance in which he finished with 1-13. His goal came from a second half penalty as Cork lost Eoin Downey to a second yellow card for a foul on John McGrath which led to the award.

McGrath grabbed two goals of his own as Liam Cahill's men completely took over, with Cork scoring just two points in the second period as their hopes of a first title since 2005 disintegrated after they had taken a six-point lead into the break.

It was a nip and tuck start to the game with Cork going ahead and Tipperary replying. They were level on three occasions in the opening 10 minutes with both teams throwing themselves into challenges.

Tipperary were carving out efforts, but the wides were mounting for Liam Cahill's men as Cork were that bit cleaner with their shooting.

Diarmuid Healy, Shane Barrett and Patrick Horgan all got into their groove early with Darragh Fitzgibbon also chipping in, while McCarthy was dead eyed for Tipperary with six points in the opening period.

Jake Morris found his range twice with Robert Doyle and Craig Morgan also landing, but as the half progressed, Cork began to open a little bit of a gap with all of their six forwards on the board by half-time.

Defensively, Tipperary were giving little leeway to Cork's much vaunted full-forward line, while their direct running and pace was causing problems at the other end, but full-back Eoghan Connolly blazed a great goal chance wide, while late in the first half, Jason Forde thought he'd found the net only for his effort to be ruled out for a square ball as he got a touch to Connolly's long delivery.

The gap was three in the final seconds of the first half when Cork, who had been unable to fully open Tipperary up, did just that and it was Barrett racing in from the left wing to crack past Rhys Shelly, giving Pat Ryan's side a 1-16 to 0-13 lead at the half.

Tipperary turn it around

Darragh McCarthy celebrates scoring his second half penalty

It would take little time for Tipperary to turn things their way in the second period as Conor Stakelum set them on their way and back-to-back points from Andrew Ormond left just that Barrett goal between them.

After McCarthy landed another two to reduce that margin to one, then came their first big haymaker as Cork goalkeeper Patrick Collins opted to bat down a dropping Jake Morris shot and McGrath was there to gather and find the net.

Although Barrett would reply with a Cork point, it would be their last for another 19 minutes as it began to go majorly wrong as they were now struggling with their shooting as shots fell off target or came off the uprights.

Tipperary were still not flawless in this department with 15 wides in total, but they had now taken full control with Cork players struggling to get anything going with their touch letting them down.

The gap was still just six with 55 minutes played but then came a huge moment as McGrath got goal side of Downey to gather a dropping ball and the Cork full-back hauled down the Tipperary attacker to concede a penalty and pick up his second caution of the game.

McCarthy drilled the award past Collins and if there was any doubt as to the destination of the silverware, it was ended five minutes later as McGrath read the flight of a Ronan Maher delivery to beat Collins to the touch and flick home.

Cork's Eoin Downey was sent off as he picked up a second yellow card

That was that as Cork's frustrations grew with Seamus Harnedy - who did get end their second and last score of the second half - seeing a shot at goal crash off the crossbar, while Conor Lehane had an injury time penalty saved by Shelly.

The Tipperary goalkeeper would also get on the board, as would substitute Noel McGrath to cap a glorious day for Tipperary who are champions once again.

Cork: P Collins; N O'Leary (0-1), E Downey, S O'Donoghue; C Joyce, R Downey, M Coleman; T O'Mahony, D Fitzgibbon (0-2); D Healy (0-3), S Barrett (1-4), D Dalton (0-1f); P Horgan (0-4, 3f), A Connolly (0-1), B Hayes (0-1).

Subs: S Harnedy (0-1) for D Dalton (44), D Cahalane for D Healy (56), C Lehane for P Horgan (58), S Kingston for A Connolly (64), T O'Connell for T O'Mahony (67).

Tipperary: R Shelly (0-1); R Doyle (0-1), E Connolly (0-1), M Breen; C Morgan, R Maher, B O'Mara; W Connors (0-1), C Stakelum (0-1); J Morris (0-1), A Ormond (0-1), S O'Farrell; D McCarthy (1-13, 1-0 pen, 0-9f), J McGrath (2-2), J Forde (0-2).

Subs: S Kennedy for B O'Mara (50), A Tynan for C Morgan (56), N McGrath for S O'Farrell (60), O O'Donoghue for A Ormond (66), D Stakelum for C Stakelum (66).

Referee: L Gordon (Galway)