Cork U20 manager Denis Ring couldn’t hide his disappointment at the final whistle last night, describing his side’s narrow defeat to Tipperary as “gut-wrenching”.
Ring paid tribute to Tipperary and to Jake Morris, who scored the match-winning goal: “Both teams played very well, they put themselves in a position to win the match, and unfortunately for us we came ip short, we’re bitterly disappointed.
“We put our hearts and souls into it, it was a game that went one way and the other, a see-saw game. We were unlucky not to hang on, we got caught with a sucker punch at the very end.
Fair play to Jake Morris, it was a very good goal, it’s not that it was a fluke or anything - you have to give him great credit for taking on the ball the way he did and scoring the way he did.
Ring acknowledged his side’s performance as well and noted that Cork will still participate in the All-Ireland series, with a chance at redemption in their upcoming All-Ireland semi-final with Kilkenny: “From our point of view it’s gut-wrenching because we’re very proud of those lads, they put in a massive performance and it’s very disappointing for them to lose on that scoreline.
"They’re fantastic - they went to the well and came back and their attitude was absolutely first class. We couldn’t be prouder of them, but we’re delighted we have an opportunity to maybe come back from this.”