Michael Ryan starts Tipperary reign with win

Tipperary 2-17 Offaly 1-15: Michael Ryan declared himself pleased with his first outing in charge of Tipperary’s senior hurlers, as the Premier County scored a five-point victory over Offaly in yesterday’s Templemore challenge outing.

In what was a low-key encounter, devoid of any real quality due to heavy underfoot conditions, Ryan admitted that “application and a little bit of progress” was what he was looking for from his charges.

For Offaly, this was a big step up in class after their comfortable Walsh Cup victory over Dublin IT, as Eamonn Kelly took charge against his native county.