Forde leads the way as Tipp rout Offaly
GAA: National Hurling League Division 1A Round 2
Offaly 1-18
Tipperary 5-24
Report: Noel Dundon at Glenisk O’Connor Park, Tullamore
MATCH DIGEST
Player of the Match: Jason Forde (Tipperary)
SCORERS - Offaly: Brian Duignan 1-2; Eoghan Cahill 0-4 (2 frees); Daniel Bourke 0-3; Liam Hoare (frees), Oisin Kelly 0-2 each; Ben Connelly, Dan Ravenhill, Luke Watkins, Cathal King, Adam Screeney (free) 0-1 each.
Tipperary: Jason Forde 3-10 (1-0 pen, 0-7 frees); John McGrath 1-1; Jack Leamy, Conor Stakelum 0-3 each; Paddy McCormack 1-0; Darragh Stakelum, Josh Keller 0-2 each; Gearoid O’Connor, Noel McGrath, Conor Martin 0-1 each.
A second victory in the National Hurling League was never really in doubt when Tipperary visited Tullamore on Sunday with goals being the crucial currency in a typical league encounter.
5,897 attendees saw Tipperary produce a decent performance as they handled everything the hosts had to throw at them with relative ease. And the prowess of Tipperary’s attack stood out as the main difference between the sides with 1-4 coming from the bench to compliment the 4-20 from the starting fifteen.
The fact that 3-10 of the Premier scoreline came from sharpshooter Jason Forde speaks to the kind of form the Silvermines attacker is in – 2-3 coming from play on a very positive outing from him.
It was also a day to run the bench and the return of the McGrath brothers was noteworthy – John bagging 1-1, while Noel grabbed a point also.
Tipperary lined out as named in the programme but Offaly had four changes with Adam Screeney, Daniel Bourke, Sam Bourke and Cathal King all making way in favour of Eoghan Cahill, Colin Spain, Ciaran Cleary and Ruairi Kelly.
Goal opportunities were many in the first half for Tipp but only two taken including a penalty goal from Jason Forde in the 29th minute after Offaly full back Ben Miller dragged down Andrew Ormond and picked up a black car for his troubles. At that stage Tipp had worked up a 2-11 to 1-7 lead and seemed to be cruising as they hurled into a strong breeze – the gap would be 2-12 to 1-10 by the time the break came.
Tipp’s first goal from Paddy McCormack arrived in the eleventh minute following a great move involving Conor Stakelum, Josh Keller and Andrew Ormond. But for all that, it was Jason Forde who was the standout Tipperary attacker in the first half. He had 1-7 to his name by the break with three of those coming from play.
Forde was certainly on song and the points pilfered by Keller (2) and Jack Leamy went nicely with the others to create an advantage for Tipp for the majority of the half.
Offaly regularly used the long ball into the full forward line and it paid dividends for them with Ciaran Cleary proving a real handful. He was involved in much of the play and the scores for Luke Watkins, Oisin Kelly, Ben Connelly and the Brian Duignan goal in the 18th minute came direct off a breaking ball – Duignan’s goal was buried following a well-timed run and it cut the lead to two points at that stage.
Offaly had two long range points from goalkeeper Liam Hoare and after that Eoin Cahill was their main scorer with four to his name, half of those from frees.
Tipperary had not made much use of the extra man following Miller’s black card but with the strong breeze to come, it was expected that they would kick on to claim the points.
The scale of the second half massacre was hardly predicted though – it ended up being a 3-12 to 0-8 hiding once the game was restarted.
John McGrath was sent into the fray for the first time this year at half time and it didn’t take him long to make his presence felt – a goal within five minutes extended the lead, and by the time Offaly managed their first score of the second half, in the 53rd minute, Tipp had added 2-5 to their half time tally; Conor Martin, John McGrath, Jack Leamy, Conor Stakelum and Noel McGrath all pointed, while Jason Forde grabbed his second goal in the 39th minute after a searing run through the defence by Gearoid O’Connor.
The game was over as a contest but there was still much of the encounter to be played. Tipp rolled the scoreboard with Conor Stakelum, who finished with three from midfield, his brother Darragh who grabbed two having been introduced, Jack Leamy who had three to his name, and Jason Forde (3) seeing out the minutes, before Forde grabbed his hat-trick goal at the very end.
Offaly kept plugging away. They had Adam Screeney and Dan Bourke in the fray in the second half, with Bourke grabbing three points, but their race was run from a long way out and the second half proved to be a very long one from their viewpoint. Still, they had decent showings from Ciaran Cleary, Eoghan Cahill, Oisin Kelly, Dan Ravenhill and Brecon Kavanagh, while Dan Bourke impressed when introduced.
For Tipp, Bryan O’Mara and Seamus Kennedy impressed in defence, Conor Stakelum was busy at midfield, while Josh Keller, Andrew Ormond and Jack Leamy had good moments. But Jason Forde was the star on the day and justifiably claimed the Man of the Match award.
TEAMS - Offaly: Liam Hoare (6); Patrick Taffe (7), Ben Miller, (6) Ben Conneely (7), Dan Ravenhill (6), Ruairi Kelly (6), Brecon Kavanagh (7), Luke Watkins (6), Ciaran Kelly (7), Conor Doyle (6), Brian Duignan (8), Ross Ravenhill (7), Colin Spain (6), Oisin Kelly (6), Eoghan Cahill (7).
Subs: Cathal King (6) for Watkins (31); Dan Bourke (8) for R Ravenhill (HT); Ter Guinan (6) for Doyle (HT); Adam Screeney (6) for R Kelly (43); Daniel Hand (6) for Spain (60).
Tipperary: Barry Hogan (Kiladangan 7); Cathal O’Reilly (Holycross/Ballycahill 7), Bryan O’Mara (Holycross/Ballycahill 8), Johnny Ryan (Arravale Rovers 7); Conor Martin (Cappawhite 7), Craig Morgan (Kilruane MacDonaghs 7), Seamus Kennedy (St Mary’s 8); Willie Connors (Kiladangan, Capt 7), Conor Stakelum (Thurles Sarsfields, 8), Josh Keller (Nenagh Eire Og 7), Andrew Ormond (JK Brackens 7), Gearoid O’Connor (Moyne-Templetuohy 6); Jack Leamy (Golden Kilfeacle 6), Paddy McCormack (Borris-Ileigh 6), Jason Forde (Silvermines 9).
Subs: Darragh Stakelum (Thurles Sarsfields 7) for Keller (HT); John McGrath (Loughmore/Castleiney 7) for McCormack (HT); Noel McGrath (Loughmore/Castleiney 6) for Ormond (46); Adam Daly (Knockavilla-D Kickhams 6) for Morgan (50); Cathal English (Father Sheehy’s 6) for C Stakelum (60).
Referee: Colm McDonnell (Antrim).