Tipperary ... 4-14 Offaly ... 1-8 Three-goal hero Lar Corbett provided the platform for an emphatic Tipperary victory over neighbours Offaly in their first round clash at Nenagh yesterday.
The Premier county proved too strong in all sectors for an experimental Offaly outfit who fielded a raft of under-21 players in the absence of their Birr contingent.
Tipperary, with new manager Michael Doyle at the helm set out their stall early with captain Brian O'Meara celebrating a goal after five minutes following a searing run through a porous Offaly defence.
Corner forward Corbett stamped his authority on the game early on with two fine points before netting in the 15th minute after a mix-up in the Offaly defence.
By now Tommy Dunne was lording midfield and the half back line of Eamonn Corcoran, David Kennedy and Benny Dunne were snuffing out any scoring threat. Six minutes from the break Corbett again sniped through the Offaly cover following a sublime hand pass from Liam Cahill to bag his second goal.
Tipperary went in at the break leading by 3-6 to 1-4.
The men in blue and gold continued straight away where they left off in the second half with slick points in succession from Eoin Kelly and Conor Gleeson before Corbett capped a fantastic display with his third goal of the game in the 43rd minute.
The Thurles Sarsfields man plucked an inch-perfect Kelly centre from the sky, danced around the Offaly defence, and rocketed the ball to the back of the net.
Offaly attempted to mount some semblance of a response to Tipperary's continuing dominance, and midfielder Ger Oakley nearly cut the deficit with a goal-bound shot in the 48th minute, only to be denied by the agility of Brendan Cummins.
Cummins's counterpart between the Offaly posts, Stephen Byrne, was called on to deny John O'Brien seconds later and he too proved why he is one of the country's top keepers with a full-length diving save.
Offaly maintained a token resistance with frees from an in-form Brian Carroll but as time ticked away Tipperary increased their tally with points from Kelly and Corbett.
Tipp registered their final score, a Gleeson point, in the 58th minute and for the remaining 12 minutes seemed happy to allow Offaly to attempt a face-saving attempt to bring down the deficit.
With the young Offaly side well and truly deflated, points from Carroll and Colm Cassidy only served to put a shinier gloss on a disappointing day for the Faithful county.
Tipperary exuded confidence throughout, with impressive performances from Corbett, the Dunne brothers, Tommy and Benny, Philip Maher, John Devane and Corcoran, while Colm Cassidy, Joe Brady, Oakley and Carroll impressed for Offaly.
OFFALY: S Byrne; B Teehan, M O'Hara, K Brady; C Cassidy (0-1), J Brady, D Franks; B Murphy, G Oakley (0-1); N Coughlan, G Rafferty, D Murray (1-0); S Weir, B Carroll (0-6, 5fs, '65), K Kelly. Subs: W Comerford for Coughlan, C Gath for Weir, N Murphy for Rafferty.
Referee: P Neary (Kilkenny).
TIPPERARY: B Cummins; T Costello, P Maher, J Devane; E Corcoran, D Kennedy, B Dunne; T Dunne (0-1), M Ryan (0-1); L Cahill, J Carroll, B O'Meara (capt, 1-0); E Kelly (0-6, 3 fs), J O'Brien, L Corbett (3-3). Subs: C Gleeson (0-3) for O'Meara, C Morrissey for Ryan, R Flannery for Corcoran, E Brislane for T Dunne, G O'Grady for Carroll.
