N.Y. GAA Cork footballers escape Tyrone comeback

By Jack Flynn

Cork 1-12, Tyrone 1-11

It must have seemed like a bad case of deja vu for Cork. Just two Sundays ago, the Senior Div. I footballers stormed back from a 6-point second-half deficit to forge a thrilling draw with Stamford.

Now here they were, with a 6-point lead over Tyrone with just 11 minutes to go at Gaelic Park on Sunday, and it seemed to be happening all over again. But this time, Cork was on the opposite end of the comeback.

Tyrone used a spirited effort to level the score with 3 minutes to go, but it was Cork’s Mark O’Sullivan who struck the decisive blow by scoring the point that allowed his side to escape with a narrow 1-12 to 1-11 win.

“We were up against it a bit at the end,” O’Sullivan said, “but we were able to hold on.” Cork, who were missing several players, including Dennis Kiely and Gerry O’Riordan, jumped out to the early lead. Strong play from O’Sullivan, Eamon McCarthy and Sean O’Flynn gave Cork an early 1-5 to 0-1 advantage.

O’Sullivan scored his first point of the match on a splendid run up the middle of the Tyrone defense. Eric Dockery went on a similar run soon after, but without the same result. It was the first of several missed opportunities for Dockery, who had a rough day on the offensive end.

Cork’s first goal came from O’Sullivan as well, who sent a ball under Tyrone keeper Martin Conway’s arms along the ground and into the net.

O’Flynn’s point was an opportunistic one, picking up the rebound when teammate John Mahoney’s point try was blocked down by a Tyrone full back and calmly putting the ball over the bar.

Tyrone fought back, using points from five different players to pull themselves back into the match. As the two teams walked off the field at halftime, the score was 1-8 to 0-6 in Cork’s favor.

In the second half, both teams struggled to score points, but both for entirely different reasons. Tyrone had made several brilliant runs through the Cork defense, but consistently were guilty of making one pass too many and losing possession. Cork, on the other hand, simply couldn’t put a ball over the bar, either off of a free or from a point try.

But when Dockery finally found his way on to the scoreboard for Cork by notching a point to make the score 1-11 to 0-8, it seemed that Tyrone was on its last legs.

One goal and three points later, the score was level. Cork was reeling and Tyrone seemed poised to steal a win. Mike O’Neill actually had a chance to put his side ahead, but the Tyrone man couldn’t convert and the score remained the same.

With two minutes to go, O’Sullivan sent a ball over the bar to give Cork a 1-point advantage. Tyrone embarked upon a frantic quest to even the score again, but simply had nothing left in the tank. Cork’s defense held firm, and the team’s stunning near-collapse was negated.

Cork scorers: O’Sullivan 1-4, McCarthy 0-3, O’Flynn 0-2, Cronin, Mahoney and Dockery 0-1.

Tyrone: P. Devlin 1-1, S. Devlin 0-3, Redmond, Ryan and McLaughlin 0-2, J. Gormley 0-1.