Shane O'Donnell Thinks Major Cork Flaw Was Exposed In All-Ireland Final Hammering

The Premier County have delivered the most outstanding of All-Ireland Final performances, blowing Pat Ryan's Cork away 3-27 to 1-18 to claim a first Liam McCarthy since 2019.

Cork may have been the punters' favourite and boasted a six-point lead at the break, but a disastrous second-half, that saw them add just two points to their first-half tally, all the while leaking 23 points, saw the much-billed clash all but over by the hour mark.

It was a disastrous capitulation that not only saw Cork reduced to fourteen thanks to Eoghan Downey's second yellow card, but also saw their usually machine-like attack fail, with even a 71st-minute proving insufficient to soften a score line that at half-time would've been simply unimaginable.

Tipperary, on the other hand, faced no such issues, with their defence resolutely holding Cork at bay, their midfield utterly and completely dominating the puckouts, and 19-year-old Darragh McCarthy scoring 1-14 to inspire the most complete of attacking performances from Liam Cahill's men.

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Speaking after Tipperary's hammering, Shane O'Donnell felt that Cork's high-risk puckout was exposed by Cahill's men, with the Clare star amazed that the Rebels 'doubled down' on a strategy that wasn't working.

Appearing on the BBC, O'Donnell explained that while Cork's puck-out strategy can prove extremely fruitful when operating properly, it can be equally as costly when it's not working.

Cork doubled down on their puck-outs. When Tipp were getting shots away and Cork were still not winning their puckouts essentially, you end up with this like wall they were hitting against.

Tipp were getting so many opportunities because they were getting the shots away, getting it dead and they were beating Cork on the puckouts.

Cork often do this long direct puc out, and when it goes well it breaks through and you see all these goals spilling out of it, but when it's not working well the ball can come back at you very quickly and give a lot of opportunities to the opposition.

While it may have been Tipperary's relentless point-scoring machine, Darragh McCarthy, who curated the unimaginable distance between the two sides, it was the side's three goals that sucked the wind out of Cork and all but sealed victory for Tipperary.

Although Cork's puck outs may have been faltering, it would be remiss not to mention Tipperary's relentless pursuit of the sliotar, which saw them dominate the skies and the ground in Croke Park, as they deprived Cork of any opportunity and mercilessly sailed to a title nobody thought they could win.