Cork and Tipperary set for historic final
It is a rivalry woven into the fabric of hurling history and on Sunday, Cork and Tipperary get ready for the latest instalment with the game's biggest prize on the line.Long before the foundation of the GAA as we know it, there was Cork versus Tipperary with their first recorded meeting taking place near Rathcormac, County Cork in 1741.Throughout the years, the fixture would dominate Munster final day as two of hurling's traditional 'big three' - which also includes Leinster's Kilkenny - battled for provincial honours and another step towards All-Ireland glory with Cork second in the roll of honour with 30 titles, two ahead of Tipperary in third.However, it has been 20 years since Liam MacCarthy last visited the banks of the Lee, with Cork coming up short four finals since their last triumph in 2005.Tipperary's wait is considerably shorter, with victory over Kilkenny in the 2019 final their 28th triumph, but the Premier County's hunger for success is no less ravenous as they have a proud record to defend as they have been crowned champions in each decade since the formation of the GAA in the 1884, but are yet to scale the mountain the 2020s.Ever since the introduction of the 'back door' in 1997, initially giving the losing provincial finalists in Munster and Leinster a second chance in the All-Ireland series, both counties have used this route to their advantage with Tipperary recovering from a Munster final loss that year against Clare to reach hurling's biggest day, only to fall to The Banner once again.That all-Munster clash was viewed as a novelty, but an All-Ireland final between counties from the same province is no longer considered as such. However, this will be the first time hurling has produced a Cork-Tipperary final.
There was a semi-final between the pair in 2014 that went the way of Tipp, 10 years on from an All-Ireland qualifier between them which the Rebels won on their way to the All-Ireland title, but championship meetings since have been confined to their provincial boundary.The counties have served up some of hurling's greatest games, played by giants of the game. In Cork, names such as Christy Ring, Jimmy Barry-Murphy, Ray Cummins and Jimmy Barry-Murphy roll off the tongue, just as Jimmy Doyle, Michael 'Babs' Keating and Nicholas English do across the county border.On Sunday, new heroes will emerge with Cork's Patrick Horgan desperate for a first All-Ireland medal to cap an outstanding career, while in the opposite corner, Tipperary's McGrath brothers, Noel and John, will seek to get their hands on Liam once again.It makes Sunday's final all the more intriguing and the 82,300 lucky to be in possession of a precious ticket are set for the latest chapter of the great Cork-Tipperary rivalry which has already created history.
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