Tipperary looked certain to relinquish their Munster minor hurling title when they trailed Limerick by 11 points after 33 minutes in Bruff last night. But they staged a magnificent comeback in the second half of this pulsating semi-final and almost snatched victory at the death.

Three minutes into injury time they went ahead by a point from an Eoin Kelly 65. However, Limerick showed their battling qualities when Niall Moran, with the last puck of the ball, forced a replay which is scheduled for next Wednesday in Thurles.

Kelly was central to Tipperary's resurgence, contributing a total of 2-11.

Limerick, with a 10th-minute goal from Pat McElligott, led 1-11 to 0-7 at the interval and Michael McKenna had their second goal just on the change of ends.

Limerick: T Houlihan; C Kearney, D Clancy, M Weekes; M CLifford, E Foley (0-1), P O'Dwyer; N Moran (0-6), A Hanley; A O'Connor (0-1), P McElligott (1-1), P Tobin (0-5); A O'Shaughnessy (0-4), B Geoghegan (0-1), M McKenna (1-0). Sub: G Noonan for O'Connor.

Tipperary: N McGrath; D Fitzgerald, M Maher, E Buckley; K Ivors, E Ryan, T Connolly; M Ryan, J Lillis; A Horgan (1-0), E Kelly (2-11), M Gleeson; J O'Brien (0-2), T Doyle, T Minogue. Subs: R O'Brien (1-0) for Minogue, J Sweeney for N Ryan, M Phelan for Lillis.

Referee: D Kirwan (Cork).