Blanket defences were not in evidence at Portlaoise this evening, where Tipperary defeated Laois by 3-17 to 4-9 in an absolute thriller.

The hosts battled back from a ten-point interval deficit to draw level with 62 minutes played, but a 70th-minute Barry Grogan goal confirmed that the Premier County would progress to the fourth and final round of the football Qualifiers, with their tails getting higher by the minute.

The winners were given a rapturous standing ovation as they left the field at half time with a 2-10 to 1-3 lead, reeling off 1-9 without reply and holding Laois scoreless from the 13th minute until the break.

Tipp got off to a dream start as Conor Sweeney finished excellently to the back of the Laois net inside the opening minute. But their lead was short-lived as the O'Moore County had moved ahead by the seventh minute thanks to a Donie Kingston point and a driven goal from John O'Loughlin.

Michael Quinlivan, who had a sight of goal, equalised but Niall Donoher slotted over a close-range point off his right foot to edge Tomas O Flatharta's side back in front on eleven minutes. Billy Sheehan doubled the gap two minutes later.

But Tipp roared back with quickfire points from Sweeney, Quinlivan and Brian Fox to move back in front, 1-4 to 1-3 after 15 minutes.

Colin O'Riordan added to the visitors' tally and Philip Austin's second point in the 23rd minute was Tipp's seventh in succession! - 1-8 to 1-3. And when Sweeney latched onto Barry Grogan's delivery to claim his second goal ten minutes from the break, the sizeably travelling crowd in Portlaoise were in a state of euphoria.

Laois lost Ross Munnelly to injury and Tipp closed out the first half in great style with points from Fox and O'Riordan to lead by ten at the break.

James Finn, who had replaced Munnelly, gave the O'Moore County a great start to the second half when he plundered a goal three minutes after the restart. Paul Fitzgerald made a vital save to deny Laois a third goal but there was nothing he could do to prevent Conor Meredith from drilling to the net in the 42nd minute - 2-10 to 3-3!

Austin and Grogan responded for the irrepressible Premier County with two excellent points in as many minutes to leave six between them with 25 minutes remaining. The outstanding Peter Acheson became the sixth of Tipp's starting forwards to score but Laois replied with points from substitute MJ Tierney ('45') and Meredith (free).

Kingston drilled over a controversial free to close the gap to just four points but Austin fisted a fantastic point - his fourth - at the other end after good work by Quinlivan. Amazingly, with 13 minutes left, David Conway got in for a fourth Laois goal after the referee had incurred the wrath of the visiting supporters by denying Tipperary a free. Suddenly, there was just two points between the teams - 2-14 to 4-6.

Substitute Evan Costello made it a one-point match as the tension mounted and Conway equalised with eight minutes to go. But, on 65 minutes, Grogan swung over a brilliant score to restore Tipp's lead, 2-15 to 4-8.

Three minutes from time, Grogan won a close-range Tipperary free, which Sweeney clipped between the posts from 14 metres off his left foot. Not for the first time, cries of 'Tipp, Tipp, Tipp' reverberated around O'Moore Park!

In the last minute, the roars got even loader when Grogan got on the end of a brilliant move to slot Tipp's third goal and leave five between them. Kinston popped over an injury-time free but Grogan curled over another Premier County score in response and Peter Creedon's men advanced to the next stage of the Qualifiers. What a voyage!

Not bad for a team that played in Division Four this Spring!

Tipperary - P Fitzgerald; G Mulhair, P Codd, C McDonald; C O'Riordan (0-2), R Kiely, P Acheson (0-1); S O'Brien, G Hannigan; M Quinlivan (0-3), J Coghlan, B Fox (0-2); B Grogan (1-3, 0-1f), P Austin (0-4), C Sweeney (2-2, 0-1f). Subs: I Fahey for G Mulhair, C Kennedy for P Austin, B Mulvihill for B Grogan.

Laois - G Brody; P McMahon, P Begley, P O'Leary; D Strong, R Kehoe, C Begley; K Meaney, J O'Loughlin (1-0); C Meredith (1-0), B Sheehan (0-1), N Donoher (0-1); R Munnelly, D Kingston (0-4, 3f), D O'Connor. Subs: J Finn (1-0) for R Munnelly, S Attride for K Meaney, D Conway (1-1) for D O'Connor, MJ Tierney (0-1'45) for R Kehoe (BC), E Costello (0-1) for C Begley, K Meaney for McMahon (BC).

Referee - D Gough. Tweet

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