SH Qualifier: Premier County book quarter-final spot as Faithfuls bow out

July 12, 2014

Offaly's Brian Carroll is put under pressure from Michael Cahill, Paddy Stapleton and Paudie Maher of Tipperary.
©INPHO/Cathal Noonan.
Tipperary are through to the All-Ireland quarter-finals after beating Offaly by 5-25 to 1-20 at Portlaoise.

The Premier County won this match by 17 points without ever having to reach for the clutch.

Scorer of 3-8 in last weekend's victory over Galway, Seamus Callanan top-scored again tonight with a brilliant return of 2-10.

With first-half goals from Lar Corbett (2), Callanan and Patrick Bonnar Maher, Tipperary took control of proceedings as they built up a commanding 4-9 to 0-11 interval advantage. That's 13 scores for Tipp and 11 for the Faithful County during the opening 35 minutes, but the Premier County's ability to find the net almost at will was the difference between the sides.

Corbett and Maher both netted inside the first four minutes Brian Carroll posted Offaly's first three points before blood substitute Denis Maher replied for Eamon O Shea's side.

Callanan and midfielder James Woodlock had their points cancelled out by Offaly midfielder Dan Currams and wing back Cathal Parlon; Shane Dooley's beautiful score and a Carroll free were separated by a Kieran Bergin point for Tipp, who led by 2-5 to 0-6 after 21 minutes.

Brian Whelehan's men demonstrated plenty of heart and guts as they came back with a run of three points from Carroll to reduce the gap to just two points with eleven minutes left before the break.

But Corbett whacked in his second major in the 28th minute before Carroll saw two more points cancelled out by Maher and McGrath respectively.

Callanan added a goal and a point to Tipp's tally in the dying embers of the first half to leave ten between them at the short whistle.

Within 13 minutes of the restart, the Faithfuls had reduced the deficit to just four points, 4-11 to 1-16, outscoring their opponents by 1-5 to 0-2 during a real purple patch. Colin Egan had the ball in the Tipp net within two minutes of the resumption and Carroll's free was replied to by Callanan and Bergin before Dooley ('65'), Joe Bergin and Carroll (2) contributed scores for the underdogs.

Having gone ten minutes without a score, the winners now woke up and fired over five in succession: Callanan (2), Bergin, John O'Dwyer and Corbett making it 4-16 to 1-16 with 15 minutes to go.

Paddy Stapleton and Joe Bergin traded points. So too did Callanan and Carroll. Bergin and substitute Eoin Kelly stretched the gap to eleven with nine minutes left and Carroll (free) brought his tally for the day to an impressive 0-13.

Callanan in turn increased his return to an already mouth-watering 1-9 after Denis Maher had pointed for the runaway winners. Substitute Jason Forde and Callanan (free) pointed either side of a Sean Ryan score for Offaly and, after Corbett brought his tally for the night to 2-2, Callanan pounced to make himself top scorer for the second weekend running as he sent a low shot to the back of the net in the last minute of normal time.

What a day for Tipperary GAA as both their footballers and hurlers march on! Next up for the hurlers is either Dublin or Cork for a place in the last four.

Tipperary - D Gleeson; P Stapleton, Padraic Maher, M Cahill; B Maher, J Barry, C Barrett; K Bergin (0-4), J Woodlock (0-1); G Ryan, Patrick Maher (1-1), J O'Dwyer (0-1); N McGrath (0-1), S Callanan (2-10, 0-7f), L Corbett (2-2). Subs: D Maher (0-2) for G Ryan, T Stapleton (0-1) for C Barrett, E Kelly (0-1) for J O'Dwyer, S McGrath for J Woodlock, J Forde (0-1) for Patrick Maher.

Offaly - J Dempsey; C Parlon (0-1), R Hanniffy, N Wynne; C McDonald, K Brady, E Nolan; D Currams (0-1), S Ryan (0-1); J Bergin (0-3, 1f, 1'65), C Mahon, C Egan (1-0); D Kenny, B Carroll (0-13, 10f), S Dooley (0-1). Subs: S Cleary for D Kenny, K Connolly for K Brady, P Geraghty for S Cleary, T Geraghty for K Connolly.

Referee - A Kelly.

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