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CATHAL DERVAN

All Ireland Football: Cork dethrones Tyrone with ease

Cathal Dervan

Published Wednesday, August 26, 2009, 2:02 PM

Updated Wednesday, August 26, 2009, 2:02 PM

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Cork's Graham Canty wins possession during the All-Ireland semifinal against Tyrone.

Cork boss Conor Counihan paid tribute to his Big Guns for the manner in which they met the Tyrone challenge head on as they disposed of the All-Ireland champions with a 1-13 to 0-11 semifinal win at Croke Park on Sunday.

A first half Daniel Goulding goal sent Cork on their way to a September showdown with Meath or Kerry, and not even the dismissal of midfielder Alan O’Connor for a second yellow card offense just before the break could spoil their day.

“I think they dealt with Tyrone admirably, I suppose,” Counihan said at the post-match press conference. “People have questioned the team for a long time, and I think today in the circumstances, and even last year again, they have shown a lot of character.

“Maybe we have come up short in All-Ireland semifinals and final stages in the past, but there can only be one winner in this business. Every year a championship can only have one winner and that doesn’t necessarily mean that the other teams are poor.

“I would be very proud of the way that we performed today, but equally I would acknowledge that we have to improve if we want to in the All-Ireland.”

Counihan added, “I think there was a resolve about the lads today. We really had a good feeling. As a manager you always have a good feeling, but it felt particularly good today – the mood was good. They worked for it and that’s the way it turned out.

“We had come through the championship and we really wanted a good team to test us, and Tyrone, three times All Ireland champions in the last number of years -- it doesn’t come much bigger,” the Cork boss added.

“They brought an awful lot to the game. They have come an awful long way in a short period of time from a county that wouldn’t be winning All-Irelands. They were the benchmark and thankfully today we just came out on top.”

Cork are back in the final for the first time since they lost by 10 points to Kerry in the 2007 decider, and goalie Alan Quirke is ready to put the record straight.

Quirke said, “It’s great, I suppose down in Cork we don’t get to a whole lot of finals. We got there two years ago and it didn’t work out too well for us.

“We beat Tyrone today, but playing Kerry or Meath in the final, we are going to be up against a good team, so we are really looking forward to it. But we would be hoping that we would perform better than the last time.”

Cork defender John Miskella could yet be banned for the All-Ireland football final against Kerry or Meath despite already receiving a yellow card after he threw a punch at Tyrone’s Brian McGuigan last Sunday.

Match referee John Bannon has been invited to review his decision to dish out only a yellow card to Miskella by the CCCC, and any decision to upgrade the card to red could see the defender banned for next month’s final.

Tyrone Retirees

A host of Tyrone players could head for the retirement ranks in the wake of Sunday’s All-Ireland semifinal defeat, but Brian Dooher has refused to talk about his plans.

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Irish sport is popular and widespread. Levels of participation and spectating are high on the island of Ireland. Throughout the country a wide variety of Irish sports are played, the most popular being Gaelic games (such as Gaelic football, hurling and camogie), soccer, rugby union and boxing. By attendance figures Gaelic football and hurling are by far the most popular sports in Ireland, (34% of total attendances at sports events being to football and 23% to hurling), while golf and soccer (including 5-a-side) are the most played at 17% of the population each. Many Irish sports, such as boxing, cricket, rugby union, Gaelic football and hurling, are organized in an all-island basis, with a single team representing Ireland in international competitions. Other Irish sports, such as Association Football, have separate organizing bodies in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. At the Olympics, a person from Northern Ireland can choose to represent either Ireland or Great Britain. The various GAA discipline finals are easily the largest sporting events regularly held in Ireland, in both terms of attendance and media coverage. The biggest national sporting event in Ireland is the final of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, held annually in Croke Park in September. It usually attracts a sell out crowd of 82,500 to Croke Park. Many of the matches in the championship attract crowds of 50,000, depending on who is playing. Aside from the GAA, the biggest multi-sport event held in Ireland regularly is the Community Games. The games are organized every year from a local level, where hundreds of thousands of young people compete in different disciplines such as athletics, swimming, cycling etc., in the first half of the year. Winners progress to county level, and then to the Community Games finals. One of the biggest international Irish sport events is international Association Football. The Republic's national team has punched above its weight in recent years, qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, and performed well against such teams as Brazil and Portugal. In rugby union, Ireland's national team has been ranked in the top five teams regularly over the last few years, and has produced major stars such as Keith Wood and Brian O'Driscoll. In golf, Ireland is home to several top golfers such as Padraig Harrington.

All Ireland Football: Cork dethrones Tyrone with ease

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