Mixed week for Tipp U20 footballers
Tipperary 6-22
Waterford 0-1
By Michael Dundon at Dr Morris Park
Tipperary romped home the easiest of winners over Waterford in the opening round of the Andrew Corden Cup at Morris Park last week, a new competition designed to aid the development of county under 20 football teams as they prepare for the championship in a few weeks time.
Run on a league system, Tipperary are paired with Laois, Carlow, and Wexford in addition to Waterford. Each county will play four games on a round-robin system, two at home and two away, and the top team at the end of the programme will receive the Andrew Corden cup. There are five such groupings, based mainly on geographical considerations, with a cup for each grouping.
Just how much this outing aided Tipperary’s development in advance of their championship clash with Limerick in the Munster quarter-final on July 2nd is debatable. Tipperary were in a different league to Waterford. Under Tom McGlinchey’s management, they were sharper, more focussed, and played with a verve and fluency Waterford never came near matching.
As a contest it was a non-event by the end of the first quarter by which time Tipperary had 1-7 on the board with no reply from the visitors. By the interval the advantage was stretched to 1-16 with Waterford still without a score. Their first attempt on goal was in the 21st minute, but tailed wide and they were twice more off target in as lop-sided an encounter as you could imagine.
Laois 6-14
Tipperary 1-9
By Cóilín Duffy in Portlaoise
Tipperary's Under 20 footballers were brought back to earn with a bang by Laois on Saturday as the O'Moore's delivered a six-goal display on the way to a 20-point win on home turf in the Andrew Corden Cup.
The visitors came into this encounter off the back of an inspired 39-point win over Waterford midweek in a game which saw them bag six goals of their own, but they failed to hit that goal-scoring form, against an in-form Laois side. The hosts had a hat-trick hero in Michael Doran, with Dan McCormack netting two goals, and Jack Owens also finding the net.
In the opening quarter it didn't look all one way traffic, as Tipperary matched their Laois counterparts well, and indeed grabbed the opening goal after Sean O'Connor converted a penalty, following a foul on Tommy McDonagh.
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