Tipperary break all time championship scoring record in demolition of Offaly in Tullamore

All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Preliminary Quarter-Final

Tipperary 7-38

Offaly 3-18

To say Tipperary won this All Ireland Senior Hurling Preliminary quarter-final pulling up would be an understatement as they showed no mercy to Joe McDonagh runner-ups Offaly in Glenisk O’Connor Park, Tullamore earlier this afternoon.

Such was the margin of quality and scoring gap between the teams, Liam Cahill’s side recorded an historic margin of victory in the senior hurling championship with an incredible 59 recorded over the 73 minutes of game time; and had 11 wides to go with it.

Crowds were still pouring into the ground as the match threw in on the button of 4pm and anyone lagging behind would have missed a flurry of points in the first ten minutes, as Tipp registered a point a minute in that time as they had completely killed off any sniff of a potential Offaly ambush.

Indeed, once those scores went over the Offaly heads predictably dropped and even with Eoghan Cahill getting the off the mark with a brace of points soon after, they were far too open on Tipperary restarts as Rhys Shelly had a man open at every restart and was reasonable for at least half a dozen points which ended with his recipient pointing under no pressure.

You have to feel for Offaly in that they were still undoubtedly sore and under-cooked after an extra time Joe McDonagh final loss in an epic against Carlow two weeks previous, and it brings into stark view the discrepancy between the standards of the teams between the grades, and this is surely the end of the preliminary quarter-final route for the finalists of the second tier competition.

Nevertheless, from a Tipperary perspective it couldn’t have been easier and from the viewpoint of patching up a panel which has been constantly rotating players in and out of the treatment room, getting minutes into Jason Forde, Seamus Callanan, the returning Craig Morgan and Gearoid O’Connor off the bench will be a welcome occurrence ahead of the All Ireland quarter-final against Galway.

Tipperary essentially hit a point a minute in the first half as they ended the half with a score that would be high in a full 70-minute match, notching 3-25 and hitting six wides in that time to boot - with the goals coming from Jason Forde, Seamus Callanan, and Mark  Kehoe as Tipp had ten different scorers in the first 35 minutes.

The only mark against the Tipperary first half performance came in the 34th minute when Dan McCormack was adjudged to have cynically swiped at Cillian Kiely who was bearing down the middle of the Tipp defence around the 21, and the Borris-Ileigh man received a black card and conceded a penalty in the process which Eoghan Cahill converted despite Rhys Shelly getting a stick to the strike.

Whatever about that, Offaly have to be given a small crumb of credit for starting the second half well with Tipperary numerically disadvantaged with Charlie Mitchell scoring a 37th minute goal after a long ball in and despite Tipp getting the next three points in the next ten minutes, Offaly bagged another brace of goals around the 48th minute, one coming from Johnny Murphy and the second from a Cillian Kiely 21-yard free.

Tipp were slightly lacklustre in the third quarter and that was understandable given the fact the match was over and done with in terms of the result, but they still managed to fill their collective boots in the final quarter, with goals from Mark Kehoe (2), Jason Forde, and John McGrath.

The thunder and lightning flooded the sky in the last ten minutes as the Offaly supporters were baying for the full time whistle, but Tipp continued to rack up the scores as a flurry of late points - along with the goals - gave Tipperary a record tally in a championship match of a staggering 59 points.

There were very good performances speckled all over the pitch from Tipperary, and they looked really hungry and focused early in this game which essentially won the game after ten minutes; Jake Morris and Mark Kehoe continuing their good overall season form with 3-10 between them, while Conor Stakelum and Alan Tynan put in an impressive shift throughout the game - the latter bagging 0-6 from seven shots at goal during the game.

There will be some annoyance from management about a few of the goal concessions, particularly in the second half, but it might be no harm for the players and management to have a stick to beat the players down the line; and with the likes of Cathal Barrett and Conor Bowe expected to be ready for the next day out, Tipp will be happy with their days work.

One worry for Tipperary supporters was an injury to the returning Craig Morgan who was forced off with what looked like an ankle injury after 47 minutes, which had the Kilruane MacDonaghs man in some discomfort, but hopefully it was a precautionary move with the focus now turning to Galway in the All-Ireland quarter finals next weekend.

Scorers: Tipperary: Jason Forde (2-11, 0-4f, 0-3 65s), Mark Kehoe 3-3, Jake Morris 0-7, Conor Stakelum 0-6, John McGrath 1-1, Alan Tynan 0-3, Seamus Callanan 1-0, Noel McGrath 0-2, Dan McCormack, Eoghan Connolly, Seamus Kennedy, Bryan O’Mara, John Campion all 0-1 each.

Offaly: Eoghan Cahill (1-7, 1-0 pen, 0-5f), Cillian Kelly (1-3, 1-1f), Charlie Mitchell 1-1, Jason Sampson 0-2, Paddy Clancy, Brian Duignan, Johnny Murphy, Liam Langton, Paddy Delaney all 0-1 each.

Tipperary: Rhys Shelly; Craig Morgan, Michael Breen, Eoghan Connolly; Bryan O’Mara, Ronan Maher, Dan McCormack; Conor Stakelum, Noel McGrath; Alan Tynan, Jason Forde, Seamus Kennedy; Jake Morris, Seamus Callanan, Mark Kehoe.

Subs used: Johnny Ryan for Morgan (47, inj); Enda Heffernan for R Maher (47); John Campion for N McGrath (47); Gearoid O’Connor for Callanan (53); John McGrath for Kennedy (61).

Offaly: Stephen Corcoran; Ben Conneely, Ciaran Burke, David King; Jack Clancy, Jason Sampson, Killian Sampson; Sam Bourke, Eimhin Kelly; Brian Duignan, Eoghan Cahill, Adrian Cleary; Cillian Kiely, Paddy Clancy, Charlie Mitchell.

Subs used: Paddy Delaney for Bourke (HT); Eoghan Parlon for Kelly (HT); John Murphy for Clancy (40); Liam Langton for Cahill (44, inj); James Nally for King (68).

Referee: Johnny Murphy (Limerick)