Tipperary 2-23
Dublin 0-24
SECOND-HALF GOALS from Conor Bowe and Jason Forde did the trick for Tipperary who eased beyond Dublin at Croke Park to extend their perfect Allianz League record under new manager Liam Cahill.
Tipp were good value for the five-point win with Forde, fresh off a terrific 1-15 against Kilkenny, adding another 1-10 to help secure his team’s third straight Division 1 success.
Substitute Bowe netted too for the Premier shortly after coming on at half-time while Alan Tynan, Mark Kehoe and Seamus Kennedy picked off some tidy points in cool conditions.
Tipp will return to duty against Waterford on 11 March in Thurles while Dublin will be back in action a day later against Kilkenny.
It’s the end of Dublin’s unbeaten record in the league under new manager Micheál Donoghue and fans will be concerned about the apparent hamstring injury picked up by Donal Burke.
The Na Fianna man was Man of the Match with 0-14 but pulled up with an injury in the process of striking his last point from a 65 in the 61st minute.
Tipp were much changed from the side that beat Kilkenny 13 days ago, changing almost half of their team.
Defenders Conor McCarthy, Bryan O’Mara and Brian McGrath, midfielder Conor Stakelum and attackers Gearoid O’Connor, Kennedy and Kehoe all came into the team.
University of Limerick duo O’Connor and O’Mara returned to action as Fitzgibbon Cup winners.
They played prominent roles in an open and entertaining first-half where scores from long range were a feature.
O’Connor nailed two sumptuous points, one from either wing, in the opening quarter.
O’Mara’s moment of excellence was a last ditch hook that prevented Cillian Costello from releasing a shot at goal in the 18th minute.
O’Connor’s frees were crucial for UL in the third level competition and the Moyne Templetuohy man hit 0-11 for Tipp against Laois in Round 1.
But the more experienced Forde remained on the frees this time after starring against Kilkenny and helped himself to seven points in the opening half.
Forde was largely stationed close to the Dublin goal at the Hill 16 end, with either John Bellew or Paddy Doyle for company, and was a handful in open play too.
He scored one point after an intercept in the 11th minute and won a free that he converted himself later in the half.
Kennedy and Kehoe were on the mark for Tipp too in a strong first-half display from the visitors despite playing into a stiff wind.
They lost Brian McGrath to an apparent injury just before half-time though had a strong replacement in team captain Noel McGrath.
Dublin led 0-4 to 0-2 early on but fell into Tipp’s slipstream from the 12th minute and were behind for most of the game after that, save for brief spells when they tied level at 0-8 and 0-9 apiece.
Donal Burke was Dublin’s chief marksman again with eight of their 13 points in the opening half though five of those came from play as the free-taker opened up with some thrilling form.
There were a couple of scores too from Alex Considine – injured for the Round 2 win over Antrim – as Dublin hit the interval trailing by just 0-13 to 0-14.
Tipp restarted brightly and substitute Bowe had an immediate impact with a well taken 40th minute goal, Kehoe bursting through the centre and offloading to his right.
Kehoe cut through again with a similar searing run in the 45th minute but this time tapped over.
Dublin trailed by six at one stage in the third quarter but recovered well with a series of Burke scores to close the gap to three.
That was as close as they got to reeling in Cahill’s men and Forde’s 52nd minute goal, when he beat the advancing goalkeeper to a long ball in from O’Mara and flicked to the net, opened up a six-point advantage.
Tipp never looked troubled after that and there was a couple of impressive cameos from Seamus Callanan late on as the management ran in their full allocations of substitutes.
Scorers for Tipperary: Jason Forde 1-10 (0-8f), Conor Bowe 1-0, Gearoid O’Connor 0-4 (0-2f), Mark Kehoe 0-3, Seamus Kennedy 0-2, Alan Tynan 0-2, Jake Morris 0-1, Brian McGrath 0-1.
Scorers for Dublin: Donal Burke 0-14 (0-6f, 0-1 65), Alex Considine 0-3, Daire Gray 0-1, Conor Burke 0-1, Danny Sutcliffe 0-1, Chris O’Leary 0-1, Sean Currie 0-1, Joe Flanagan 0-1 (0-1f), Paul Crummey 0-1.
TIPPERARY
1. Barry Hogan (Kiladangan)
2. Conor McCarthy (Nenagh Eire Og) 3. Bryan O’Mara (Holycross Ballycahill) 4. Johnny Ryan (Arravale Rovers)
5. Michael Breen (Ballina) 6. Ronan Maher (Thurles Sarsfields) 7. Brian McGrath (Loughmore Castleiney)
8. Conor Stakelum (Thurles Sarsfields) 9. Dan McCormack (Borris Ileigh)
10. Alan Tynan (Roscrea) 11. Gearoid O’Connor (Moyne Templetuohy) 12. Seamus Kennedy (St Mary’s)
13. Jason Forde (Silvermines) 14. Jake Morris (Nenagh Eire Og) 15. Mark Kehoe (Kilsheelan Kilcash)
SUBS:
24. Noel McGrath (Loughmore Castleiney) for Brian McGrath (34)
17. Conor Bowe (Moyne Templetuohy) for Stakelum (h/t)
18. Seamus Callanan (Drom & Inch) for Kennedy (56)
23. Patrick Maher (Lorrha Dorrha) for Forde (62)
25. Cian O’Dwyer (Clonakenny) for O’Connor (68)
DUBLIN
1. Sean Brennan (Cuala)
17. John Bellew (Lucan Sarsfields) 3. Eoghan O’Donnell (Whitehall Colmcille) 4. Paddy Doyle (Naomh Barrog)
5. James Madden (Ballyboden St Enda’s) 6. Conor Burke (St Vincent’s) 7. Daire Gray (Whitehall Colmcille)
8. Conor Donohoe (Erin’s Isle) 9. Chris O’Leary (Lucan Sarsfields)
15. Cillian Costello (Naomh Barrog) 11. Danny Sutcliffe (St Jude’s) 10. Donal Burke (Na Fianna)
13. Fergal Whitely (Kilmacud Crokes) 14. Alex Considine (Kilmacud Crokes) 12. Cian Boland (St Oliver Plunkett Eoghan Ruadh)
SUBS:
20. Joe Flanagan (Naomh Barrog) for Costello (53)
25. Paul Crummey (Lucan Sarsfields) for Considine (56)
24. David Keogh (Thomas Davis) for Whitely (61)
23. Donal Leavy (Naomh Olaf) for Sutcliffe (61)
26. Sean Currie (Na Fianna) for D Burke (64)
Ref: Paud O’Dwyer (Carlow).
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