Gaelic Games

Tipperary hit championship record points total as they ruthlessly outclass Offaly

Munster side qualify for All-Ireland quarter-final as Offaly have no match for their pace and skill

Offaly’s Jack Clancy and Seamus Kennedy of Tipperary. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho

Kevin Corrigan
Sat Jun 17 2023 - 18:41
All-Ireland SHC preliminary quarter-final: Offaly 3-18 Tipperary 7-38

Still smarting from a substandard performance in their last outing against Waterford, Tipperary proved their point in no uncertain terms with a ruthless demolition of a completely outclassed Offaly in O’Connor Park on Saturday afternoon.

The Munster side were in flying form as they chalked up a championship record of 7-38 and a beleaguered Offaly had no answer to their power, pace, physicality and skill.

A surprisingly big crowd of just shy of 10,000 people attended here and the fact that the vast majority of this, possibly 75 per cent, was from Tipperary showed the expectations of both counties.

Offaly were still nursing a hangover from their extra-time defeat by Carlow in the Joe McDonagh Cup final and in truth, they could have done without this game and damaging defeat. That Carlow defeat really sapped the morale from the squad and while supporters were curious to see how they would get on against a top-tier team, they were always going to be on a hiding to nothing here.

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As things turned out, it was even worse than Offaly feared and their worse nightmare unfolded. It was clear that Tipp would win by a huge margin from the throw-in as they hit the ground running and showed that they were in a take-no-prisoners mood.

With the wind on their backs, they had five points on the board almost in the blink of an eye and a sixth-minute goal from Mark Kehoe ended the game as a contest. They went on the rampage, reaching double figures in points by the 14th minute and they were 1-21 to 0-8 ahead when Seamus Callanan got their second goal in the 27th minute. The returning Jason Forde added their third two minutes later while Eoghan Cahill got a penalty goal for Offaly a minute before the break – with Dan McCormack receiving a black card for his careless chop on Cillian Kiely.

Tipp led by 3-25 to 1-10 at half time with nine players contributing to their score. A mixture of Offaly digging in and Tipp visibly easing off allowed the home side to hold their own for the third quarter. Charlie Mitchell and Cillian Kiely, from a free, got goals as Offaly outscored them by 3-3 to 0-8 in the first 18 minutes of the second half.

The gap, however, was still huge, 3-33 to 3-13 and unfortunately for Offaly, Tipp found another gear in the last quarter as they introduced subs determined to make their mark. Mark Kehoe (two), Jason Forde and sub John McGrath ran in goals from the 63rd to 69th minutes as Offaly heads dropped and Tipp flew at them.

TIPPERARY: R Shelly; E Connolly (0-1), M Breen, C Morgan; B O’Mara (0-1), R Maher, D McCormack (0-1); C Stakelum (0-6), N McGrath (0-2); A Tynan (0-3), J Forde (2-11, 0-4f, 0-3 65s), S Kennedy (0-1); J Morris (0-7), S Callanan (1-0), M Kehoe (3-3). Subs – J Campion (0-1) for McGrath (47m), J Ryan for Morgan (47m), E Heffernan for Maher (47m), G O’Connor for Callanan (53m), J McGrath (1-1) for Kennedy (61m).

OFFALY: S Corcoran; B Conneely, C Burke, D King; J Clancy, J Sampson (0-2), K Samspon; E Kelly, S Bourke; B Duignan (0-1), E Cahill (1-7, 1-0 pen, 0-5f), A Cleary; C Kiely (1-3, 1-1f), P Clancy (0-1), C Mitchell (1-1). Subs – P Delaney (0-1) for Bourke (HT), E Parlon for Kelly (HT), J Murphy (0-1) for P Clancy (39m), L Langton (0-1) for Cahill, inj. (43m), J Nally for King (67m).

Referee: J Murphy (Limerick).

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