Watch and read: Borris squeak through Tipp's group of death, McGrath saves Loughmore from drop fight

In a group topped by Moycarkey-Borris, Borris-Ileigh squeaked through when three sides had same points and score difference

Loughmore-Castleiney had to settle for a Tipperary SHC preliminary quarter-final berth after a three-way tiebreaker saw the reigning champions, Borris-Ileigh, and Clonoulty-Rossmore separated by just two points on score difference.

In a group topped by Moycarkey-Borris, Borris-Ileigh squeaked through to the quarter-finals with a +1 score difference in the ‘mini-league’ tiebreaker. Loughmore ended on 0 with Clonoulty on -1, but both teams will feature in the preliminary quarter-finals as divisional champions.

Unless Clonoulty win the county title, they will also have to contest a relegation semi-final upon their championship exit as the bottom-placed team in Group 2. But for Noel McGrath’s stoppage-time point, Loughmore would’ve been walking that tightrope instead.

Equally, had Loughmore held onto their five-point lead entering stoppage time against Clonoulty, they would have taken the direct route to the last eight.

In a further example of the razor-thin margins involved, 2024 runners-up Toomevara were dragged into the relegation play-offs based on their total scored.

They were tied with Mullinahone on a -15 score difference at the foot of Group 4, but the South side prevailed having tallied 1-67 in their three games against Toome’s 2-53.

In short, the five teams guaranteed quarter-final places are the four table-toppers – Thurles Sarsfields, Moycarkey, Cashel King Cormacs, and JK Brackens – and Borris-Ileigh, who finished second, but have already played both of the divisional champions who require preliminary quarter-finals.

Two of the other three second-placed teams – Holycross-Ballycahill, Kiladangan, and Nenagh Éire Óg – will be drawn to face Mid champions Loughmore and West winners Clonoulty in those preliminary quarter-finals. The second-placed team not drawn out on Monday will advance to the quarter-finals.

The relegation semi-finals will be contested by Upperchurch-Drombane, Roscrea, Toomevara, and Clonoulty (unless Clonoulty win the county title, which would make it a three-way relegation contest).

All told, Loughmore did at least secure some momentum with their first win since the Mid Championship, beating Clonoulty by 2-21 to 2-18 at Holycross.

They got off to a dream start, leading by 2-5 to nil after six minutes. Ciarán McCormack bounced the sliotar home inside 20 seconds and John McGrath found the net soon after.

Clonoulty clawed their way back through Cathal Bourke and Philip Kelleher goals in the 38th and 58th minutes to leave three between them in the end.

Moycarkey clinched their table-topping status with a 2-18 to 1-18 victory over Borris-Ileigh at The Ragg.

They closed out the first half with two goals – a Rhys Shelly penalty and Kieran Morris’s overhead flick – for a six-point lead.

James Devaney’s 51st-minute goal made it a one-score game, but Borris were too reliant on Eddie Ryan (0-13, 12 frees) for scores.

Two goals from Jake Morris ensured Nenagh’s progression with a 3-17 to 1-14 triumph over Toomevara at Cloughjordan.

Ben West batted home their first green flag before Morris produced a replica finish after 19 minutes. Toome trailed by 10, but Austin Duff provided a rare spark with a goal in response.

Four points was the closest they would get until Morris buried their qualification hopes with Nenagh’s third goal.

Two stoppage-time frees from Darragh McCarthy still looked important to avoid a relegation dogfight, but Mullinahone pipped them.

That other result saw already-qualified JK Brackens win by 3-22 to 0-27 in Cashel.

Led by Micheál Dunne and Martin Kehoe, Mullinahone were value for their half-time lead, 0-17 to 2-8, with two Jamie Ormond goals keeping Brackens in touch.

The game swung on Éanna McBride’s 48th-minute goal, but Mullinahone swerved a relegation scrap by the finest of margins.

On Saturday, Thurles Sarsfields marched into the quarter-finals as Group 1 table-toppers, beating Kilruane MacDonaghs by 2-27 to 2-18 at Templederry.

Paddy Creedon’s one-handed finish helped them to a 1-14 to 0-9 half-time lead, while Niall O’Meara missed a penalty just before the break for Kilruane.

O’Meara tried his utmost to drag his side back into contention, his goal helping to cut the deficit to five with a dozen minutes to play.

Sars stretched away to make it three wins from three as Euan Murray’s solo run enabled Darragh Stakelum to fire home the highlight of his 1-6 contribution. Willie Cleary grabbed a stoppage-time consolation as he ended on 1-11 (1-2 from play).

Holycross-Ballycahill progressed behind Sars in second place with a 1-28 to 0-20 win over Upperchurch-Drombane at Borrisoleigh.

A shock looked possible as Philip O’Dwyer pushed the All-Ireland intermediate champions into a 0-15 to 0-11 lead moments after the half-time break.

Holycross struck the next 1-3, with Darragh Woods rifling home before Robbie Ryan caught fire for three stylish points. Corner-back Evan Morris added two more as Holycross pushed on to win the second half by 1-17 to 0-6.

Two goals in two minutes from Dara O’Dwyer secured Kiladangan’s passage to the knockout stage with a 2-23 to 1-23 victory over Drom and Inch at Dolla.

The 2020 and ‘23 Dan Breen Cup winners trailed Drom by three points with 15 minutes to play before O’Dwyer’s intervention.

Kiladangan maintained that cushion to the end, with Paul Flynn tallying 0-6 from play.

Séamus Callanan hit 1-10 for Drom (1-1 from play), applying a lethal finish for his first-half goal, while Maidhc Fitzpatrick chipped in with 0-5, but it wasn’t enough to rescue last year’s semi-finalists.

In the weekend’s only dead-rubber fixture, Group 3 winners Cashel King Cormacs defeated Roscrea by 1-30 to 3-21 at Templemore.

David McGrath’s first-half goal moved Cashel nine clear before Shane Fletcher’s rapid response.

They were nine clear again entering second-half stoppage time before goals from a Luke Cashin free and Fletcher narrowed the winning margin.