Allianz Football League Division 3 – Tipperary 4-16 Louth 3-11

Tipperary defeated Louth by 4-16 to 3-11 in Round 5 of the Allianz Football League Division 3 on March 15th at the Gaelic Grounds, Drogheda.

Premier power to win

By John Savage for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Louth 3-11 Tipperary 4-16

The long trip home from Drogheda was a pleasant one for Tipperary, as they all but sealed Division 3 survival against 14-man Louth. Promotion is still not out of the question but games are quickly running out for Peter Creedon’s men, as they pray for an unlikely slip-up by pacesetters Fermanagh or Armagh.

Both Ulster sides kept their unbeaten records intact elsewhere, but Tipp were full value for maximum points too, albeit with a few ‘Wee’ scares along the way. They made a blistering start. Goals from George Hannigan — after 30 seconds — and Conor Sweeney, opened a 2-3 to 0-2 lead after 17 minutes. Louth closed the gap to the minimum, but Tipp finished the half strongly to lead 2-6 to 0-8 at the break.

The hosts rattled 1-2 without reply in the first four minutes of the second period to lead for the first time, half-time sub Derek Crilly with the goal. But again Tipp’s response was emphatic, 1-5 without reply, Liam Casey slotting home goal number three.

Louth lost midfielder Eoin O’Connor to a second yellow card, but they dug in with Crilly completing his hat-trick to keep things interesting. But man-of-the-match Philip Austin fired home Tipp’s fourth goal, rubber-stamping a deserved victory.

Scorers for Tipperary: C Sweeney 1-5 (0-5f), P Austin, L Casey 1-1 each, G Hannigan 1-0, B Grogan 0-3 (0-1f, 0-1 ‘45’), C O’Riordan, S O’Brien 0-2 each, B Mulvihill, R Kiely 0-1 each.

Scorers for Louth: D Crilly 3-1, D Byrne 0-3, R Burns 0-2f, A Reid 0-2, E O’Connor, B Duffy, C Judge 0-1 each.

TIPPERARY: C Nugent; A Campbell, P Codd, R Kiely; S Kennedy, P Acheson, C O’Riordan; G Hannigan, S O’Brien; L Casey, P Austin, I Fahey; C Sweeney, B Grogan, B Fox
Subs for Tipperary: G Mulhaire for Kiely (HT), B Mulvihill for Fahey (64), A Morrissey for Kennedy (66), D Lonergan for Grogan (66), D Dwyer for Austin (69), S Flynn for Fox (70).

LOUTH: N Gallagher; K Toner, P Reilly, P Rath; J Stewart, D Finnegan, A Williams; B Duffy, E O’Connor; A Reid, C Judge, D Byrne; P Kirwan, D O’Connor, R Burns
Subs for Louth: S O’Hanlon for P Kirwan (29), C Grimes for D O’Connor (31), D Crilly for Judge (h-t), D Maguire for Burns (64), T Durnin for Duffy (67).

REF: B Rice (Down)

Team News

The Tipperary Senior Football team to play Louth in the Gaelic Grounds, Drogheda on Sunday next March 15th at 2pm in the Allianz Football League Roinn 3 round 5 has been announced. There is one change to the starting XV that lined out against Clare last Saturday as Brian Fox returns to replace the injured Michael Quinlivan. Elsewhere Liam Casey is also retained having started last week instead of the injured Andrew Morrissey.

The team in full then is as follows;

Evan Comerford (Kilsheelan Kilcash), Alan Campbell (Moyle Rovers), Paddy Codd Capt. (Killenaule), Robbie Kiely (Carbery Rangers), Seamus Kennedy (Clonmel Commercials), Peter Acheson (Moyle Rovers), Colin O’Riordan (J K Brackens), George Hannigan (Shannon Rovers), Steven O’Brien (Ballina), Liam Casey (Cahir), Philip Austin (Borrisokane), Ian Fahey (Clonmel Commercials), Conor Sweeney (Ballyporeen), Barry Grogan (Aherlow ), Brian Fox (Éire Óg Annacarty)

Louth Team v Tipperary in AFL…GALLAGHER,TONER,REILLY,RATH,WILLIAMS,FINNEGAN,STEWART,DUFFY,E O'CONNOR,REID,JUDGE,BYRNE,BURNS,GRIMES,KIRWIN

— Louth GAA (@louthgaa) March 13, 2015