League form means nothing at all. The footballing nous of veteran forwards Brian Kavanagh and Paul Barden proved invaluable as Longford dumped Division One finalists Derry out of the qualifiers with a two-point victory on June 1st. Maybe Derry never recovered from that thumping from Dublin.

It’s hard to tell how good Longford really are; they were just beaten by Wexford, yet had just enough to see off Derry.

Micky Quinn needs close attention but Tipperary do have the experience of trying to contain the multi-faceted Cork attack. On that premise and considering their maturing underage quality, Michael Quinlivan and Conor Sweeney should guide Tipp into round three.

Underage potential

If the hosts are to ever reach their full potential –and there is plenty of that in this group – then dispensing of Longford in Thurles must be achieved without undue fuss.

Hard to see either team doing any damage further down the line but Tipp have more potential. It heaps plenty of pressure on manager Peter Creedon and the team but they should have enough about them to prevail.