By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Tipperary Hurlers have drifted from 11/4 to 4/1 to be All-Ireland Champions in 2018 after the Munster round-robin series was opened up by a Limerick victory at the Gaelic Grounds.John Kiely’s men overturned a half-time deficit to begin their campaign with a win and go joint favourites for the Munster Senior Hurling Championship at 5/2 alongside Cork, whose late surge defeated Clare at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. The Rebels are 6/4 to deliver another blow to the Premier with a victory at Thurles on Sunday, while Tipperary are 4/6 favourites to recover and register their first points in the new-look format.Monaghan’s footballers meanwhile have been made new 4/5 favourites for the Anglo-Celt Cup after shortening right in from 4/1 as a result of their victory over Tyrone.
The Farney men are now 1/7 to see off Fermanagh in the semi-final and reach the Ulster Final for the first time since 2015 when they overcame Donegal by a point. At 14/1 from 33/1, Monaghan only have three teams ahead of them in the betting to win the All-Ireland Championship outright, but Dublin remain the runaway favourites at 8/11 to make it four-in-a-row at Croke Park in September.
Lawrence Lyons, Spokesperson for BoyleSports commented: “The new format in Munster gives hope to Tipperary after their early defeat but another defeat to Cork this weekend will leave them on the canvas and punters are already looking elsewhere for All-Ireland winners, as the Premier County are out to 4/1 from 11/4 after Limerick’s impressive win.”
He added: “We’re still seeing some support for Tyrone to win the All-Ireland SFC at 20/1 despite being thrown into the qualifiers, but Monaghan have flew up the betting to 14/1 from 33/1 and are also now the team to beat in Ulster at 4/5 to lift the Anglo-Celt cup.”
All-Ireland SHC 2018
5/2 Galway
4/1 Tipperary
9/2 Kilkenny
6/1 Limerick
15/2 Waterford
15/2 Cork
12/1 bar
Munster SHC 2018
5/2 Limerick
5/2 Cork
11/4 Tipperary
9/2 Waterford
9/1 Clare
Ulster SFC 2018
4/5 Monaghan
6/4 Donegal
12/1 Down
14/1 Fermanagh
25/1 Derry
80/1 Antrim
