Target 1 achieved
By Shane Brophy
Tipperary can sit back and relax next Sunday as the final games of the round-robin section play out, awaiting the route they will take in the next stage of the Munster and All-Ireland Championship.
In a golfing parlance, Tipperary are in the clubhouse on five points from their four games played, enough to secure at least third place in Munster and progression to the All-Ireland Series next month.
If that is the case, Tipperary will be next in action on the weekend of June 13-14 in a preliminary quarter final, away to the losing finalists in the MacDonagh Cup, which will be against one of Carlow, Kildare, or Laois, with the final round next Saturday determining the finalists, the final of which will be played on Leinster final day at Croke Park on Sunday, June 8th.
Should Tipp avoid a shock upset, an All-Ireland quarter final against the losing Leinster finalists would be played on Saturday, 21st or Sunday, 22nd June.
However, Tipperary can still make a Munster Final which is scheduled for Saturday, June 7th, following an agreement with the Leinster Council to alternate the weekend date of the provincial finals with the Leinster decider taking place the following day.
Tipperary’s likely Munster Final opponents would be Limerick, but only if Cork fail to beat Waterford in the crucial round 5 game next Sunday with Limerick v Clare now a dead-rubber with Clare eliminated from the championship.
Should Tipperary play Limerick in a Munster Final, it will be played in FBD Semple Stadium, per a home and away agreement, with the last final between the sides played in the Gaelic Grounds in 2019.
The Limerick venue would host a potential final between Limerick and Cork, due to a similar agreement, should the rebels beat Waterford, while in the unlikely event of a Cork v Tipperary provincial final (it would need Limerick to lose by 25 points to Clare) it would mean a third trip to Pairc Ui Chaoimh for the Premier County as Tipperary owe Cork a home game going back to 2017.
The benefit of Tipperary having their Munster senior schedule wrapped up and progression to the next round secured is that the five members of the panel that are also on the under 20 squad will have uninterrupted preparation for their All-Ireland Final which will be played on the June Bank Holiday weekend, against the winners of the Leinster final between Dublin and Kilkenny which takes place this evening (Wednesday).