Offaly next up for the Tipperary hurlers as the route to Croker becomes clear

The hurling season is finally hitting the business end with plenty of teams starting to fall by the wayside and for those left in the championship the route to the All-Ireland final is that bit clearer after the weekend action.

Tipperary are still alive in the championship as the third placed team in Munster and they will now take on Offaly in Tullamore on the weekend of June 17/18th. The game will be in Tullamore and is a good chance for both teams to bounce back from disappointing losses last weekend.

Tipp were well beaten by Waterford while Offaly were toppled by Carlow in the Joe McDonagh cup final. On the same weekend as the Tipp and Offaly game, the hurlers of Carlow will take on the third placed team in Leinster which is Dublin. That one will be played in Carlow. 

The following weekend, on June 24th, the All-Ireland quarter finals will take place where the winner of Tipp and Offaly will play the runners up of the Leinster final between Galway and Kilkenny. 

The winner of Carlow versus Dublin will play the runners up of the Munster final which will be either Clare or Limerick. That will also be on June 24th. 

So the route for Tipperary to that stage is Offaly first off, if Liam Cahill's team beat Johnny Kelly's team, then it is the loser of Galway and Kilkenny who will be Tipperary's next opponents in the All-Ireland quarter final.

The winners of the provincial finals will be straight into the All-Ireland semi finals on July 8th and 9th where they will play the quarter final winners. 

The All-Ireland final is fixed for July 23, which is just under nine weeks, until the Liam MacCarthy Cup is won. Just eight teams now can win the cup, as left in the championship currently are Limerick, Clare, Kilkenny, Galway, Dublin, Tipperary, Carlow and Offaly.