Tipperary's hammering of Laois raises further questions about viability of current preliminary quarter-final format
ANOTHER preliminary quarter-final, and another Munster county wins in a landslide.
The future of the backdoor for Joe McDonagh teams into the All-Ireland series has been questioned heavily since the Munster final had to go to penalties — and events in Portlaoise yesterday look like more evidence for the prosecution.
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Explosive starts to each half meant that Tipperary never switched out of second gear in their battle with a Laois side that lacked both physical and mental energy.
Whatever about extending the season for the Joe McDonagh Cup winners — though
And how much Tipp boss Liam Cahill learned ahead of what will be a very different type of battle with Galway next week remains to be seen.
The visitors' Willie Connors had hoisted over three excellent points from midfield to take Laois sweeper Paddy Purcell out of the game.
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And when Tipp did get inside, Jason Forde from a tight angle made it 1-5 to no score after five minutes.
During the week, GAA president Jarlath Burns spoke about how important these games are to the counties, and around 6,640 supporters filed into O'Moore Park for yesterday's double header.
But they did not have the chance to entertain the possibility of an upset, or even get 35 minutes of a competitive fixture that might road-test the Premier County.
Purcell finally got Laois off the mark and an impressive save from Cathal Dunne to deny Darragh McCarthy was another spark that finally got the O'Moore County going — and for the remainder of the first half, they hung on Tipp's coat-tails.
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Close to goal, the Tipperary full-backs were imperious as Bryan O'Mara marshalled a line that was in complete control.
But Pádraig Delaney and Donnacha Hartnett scored from distance, while Purcell also weighed in with points that kept the gap at a single-digit margin for the remainder of the first half.
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Those scores served to balance out some fine points from Andrew Ormond and John McGrath.
Within five minutes of the restart, Tipperary shattered the ten-point barrier when Purcell scored to make it 1-18 to 0-13.
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By the time Laois scored again, Sam O'Farrell and Forde both found the net with precise finishes.
The remaining half an hour was high on honest endeavour but completely lacking in Championship intensity, with the crowd only sparking into life when John McGrath hit the crossbar and Peter McGarry the post.
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Jason Forde was the top scorer as Tipp ran out 3-32 to 0-18 winners
Against Galway next Saturday, those chances will be all-important.
Yesterday, the only difference it made was on the statistician's notes.
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TIPPERARY: R Shelly; M Breen, B O'Mara, R Doyle 0-1; C Morgan, R Maher, S Kennedy; W Connors 0-5, J Caesar 0-1; A Tynan 0-1, A Ormond 0-3, S O'Farrell 1-1; J Forde 2-5 2f, J McGrath 0-3, D McCarthy 0-9, 6f, 1 65.
Subs: J Ryan for Doyle h-t, O O'Donoghue 0-1 for Ormond 47 mins, P McGarry 0-1 for Maher 47, B McGrath for Morgan 54, J Fogarty 0-1 for McCarthy 55.
LAOIS: C Dunne; C Comerford, L Cleere, D Hartnett 0-1; R Mullaney, P Delaney 0-1, J Walshe 0-1; P Purcell 0-4, A Corby, M Dowling; Tomás Keyes 0-9, 6f, B Conroy, J Keyes 0-1.
Subs: T Cuddy for Delaney 35 mins, J Lennon for Corby 49, A Dunphy 0-1 for Dowling 51, P Dunne for Mullaney 56, M Phelan for Walshe 64.
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REFEREE: C Mooney (Dublin).
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