Tipperary 2-17

Louth 0-9

Tipperary got the job done early against basement side Louth at Semple Stadium to maintain their push for back-to-back promotions.

In what was a repeat of last year's Division 3 decider, Liam Kearns' charges had the two points all but wrapped up inside the first 16 minutes when they led by 2-7 to 0-2. If Tipp can beat table-toppers Cavan and Down in their last two games, which are both away from home, promotion to the top flight will almost certainly be attained.

The Louth defence was all at sea in the early stages as wing back Bill Maher's goal helped the Premier County to a 1-4 to 0-0 lead after only eight minutes. Gerard McSorley opened the visitors' account a minute later, but the momentum remained with Tipp who dominated the midfield exchanges through Steven O'Brien and Liam Casey.

Full forward Michael Quinlivan grabbed a second goal in the 16th minute as Tipp went on to hold a 2-9 to 0-3 lead at the break, with the losers' other two first half points coming from Ryan Burns frees.

Another Burns free and an Andy McDonnell effort from play on the restart proved to be a false dawn for Pete McGrath's men as Bill Maher and Liam McGrath replied at the other end. Timmy Durnin and Conor Grimes were on target for Louth, but the outcome was never in doubt as Tipp finished the game with no fewer than eight different scorers.

Tipperary - C Kenrick; A Campbell, J Meagher, P Codd; B Maher (1-1), R Kiely, J Feehan; S O'Brien (0-1), L Casey; J Keane, J Lonergan (0-1), B Fox (0-1); C Sweeney (0-7, 5f), M Quinlivan (1-1), L McGrath (0-4). Subs: E Maloney for P Codd, L Boland for M Quinlivan, K Fahey for J Feehan, G Hannigan (0-1) for S O'Brien, K O'Halloran for L McGrath, L Boland for B Maher.

Louth - N Gallagher; D Marks, E Carolan, J Craven; E Lafferty, B Duffy, A Williams; T Durnin (0-1), D Byrne; G McSorley (0-1), A McDonnell (0-1), C Downey; D Maguire, C Grimes (0-1), R Burns (0-4f). Subs: C Early for D Byrne, F Donohoe for E Lafferty, W Woods (0-1) for R Burns, R Nally for T Durnin, J Stewart for D Maguire, A Smyth for J Craven.

Referee - P Faloon.

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