Tipperary 2-25 Offaly 2-08

An inexperienced Offaly team, minus their club championship-tied Birr players, were overpowered by Tipperary in their Allianz NHL Division 1B clash in Thurles this afternoon.

Eoin Kelly shot 1-09 as Tipp, watched by new manager Liam Sheedy, performed well in their league opener.

Six Kelly points had the hosts 0-14 to 2-05 in front at half-time, with both Derek Molloy (14 minutes) and Damien Murray (19) netting for Offaly.

The Faithfuls fell away, though, and Lar Corbett and Pa Bourke added to their tallies before a goal from league debutant Pat Kerwick completed Tipp's rout.

In perfect spring conditions, the recently-crowned Waterford Crystal Cup champions shot themselves into a 0-03 to 0-00 lead with an opening point from John O'Brien and two from Kelly, one a '65' and the other a free.

Offaly opened their account in the eighth-minute when their first real attack finished with Molloy pointing.

By this stage, midfielder Joe Ceaser of Killenaule, Tipp's second league debutant, was looking the part and the Premier County continue to tick over with points from Kelly, Kerwick and Bourke.

James Rigney replied for a 0-06 to 0-02 scoreline before Offaly earned themselves a 14th-minute goal.

It began with some good work from Joe Bergin. He worked his way deep into the Tipp half and picked out Molloy who managed to get past Declan Fanning before burying the ball past Brendan Cummins.

A second Offaly goal followed five minutes later, with Murray prodding home after a Shane Dooley shot had been blocked. But three Kelly points had Tipp back on terms at 0-09 to 2-03.

Overs from Ryan O'Dwyer and Kerwick, making it four Tipperary points in-a-row, edged Sheedy's men back in front. Nonetheless, Molloy and Dooley, who sent over two smashing scores late on, cut the gap to three points just before half-time.

Twelve minutes into the second half, Offaly got it back to being a two-point game with Dooley, the young son of manager Joe, and Rigney again raising white flags.

But Tipp struck the crucial blows of the second half when Kelly netted after a lofted ball in from O'Brien and Kerwick capped off his first league game with a well-taken major.