Cork captain John Gardiner has dismissed suggestions that the some of the Rebels' more seasoned campaigners no longer have the legs for top-level hurling. It follows last Sunday's Munster SHC semi-final at Pairc Ui Chaoimh when a younger Tipperary side outscored Cork by 0-10 to 0-2 in the closing 15 minutes to run out decisive winners. But Gardiner didn't attribute this to the high mileage on the clocks of a number of Cork players, saying: "I wouldn't think so. They seemed to get the breaks and they got scores easier than us. "We had a lot of wides. We'd have been well in the game if we took our chances but it just wasn't to be on the day. On another day, they'd probably go over the bar but it didn't happen for us. "It would have been a very high scoring game if we had taken our chances and we'd have been well in there but it just wasn't to be. It was still up for grabs and whoever could take it on was going to win it and it seemed to be Tipperary." Meanwhile, Cork manager Gerald McCarthy has defended the decision to let championship debutant Paudie O'Sullivan take the crucial second half penalty which was saved by Tipp goalkeeper Brendan Cummins. Pointing out that O'Sullivan was the team's assigned penalty taker, McCarthy said: "It was just one of those things, Paudie was down to take any close-in frees and penalties. "As it happened, we didn't get any frees near the 21-metre line but that's not to fault Paudie. He had a go and it didn't work out, but so be it." Tweet

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