Tipperary 3-17 Galway 3-16:Tipperary will meet Waterford in the All-Ireland hurling semi-final after a thrilling win over Galway left their old rivals stretched out on the Croke Park grass in painful defeat.
In 70 minutes, six goals and 32 points were scored and shared equally by the two teams, but it was Lar Corbett’s injury-time score that ensured it was the blue and yellow jerseys of Tipp left standing at the final whistle.
It was a heartbreaking exit for the Tribesmen but there had to be winner and, though Galway would argue otherwise, the result was fairer than the reverse would have been. Just.
“Really delighted, half way through the second coming close to the end it didn’t look good for us,” said Tipp manager Liam Sheedy afterwards. “Thankfully the lads really dug in and it just goes to show you the importance of the bench.”
His counterpart and fellow county man John McIntyre cut a very different figure after leaving a dressing room in “absolute devastation”.
“I’m very proud of them, they died with their boots on,” he told RTE, before adding it was vindication for his side after criticism received following their Leinster final defeat to Kilkenny.
“We were in the zone today, we heeded the lesson from the Kilkenny match. We changed our routine and had a fresher team out there today.
“Ultimately, though, Tipperary finished stronger. I can’t say they were deserving winners, if we had won it, it would have been the same way. It could have gone either way at the finish.
“I think Galway have answered a lot of those questions posed by journalists, my fellow professionals, supporters and pundits. We kept going to the bitter end. We fell, on two or three occasions, three or four points behind.
“Nobody raised the white flag, nobody threw in the towel. It was just a break here, a break there. That was the difference in the end.
“We just have to pick ourselves up, lick our wounds, and, ah, I don’t know where we go from here.”
Tipperary made their mark first through Patrick Maher and Corbett. Eanna Ryan responded but Eoin Kelly got his first two of the game for a three point lead, the first from play and the second a free.
Ryan suddenly dragged Galway back into it when he outpaced Padraic Maher before firing into the top corner from the righthand side and Damien Hayes’ point soon after levelled it.
Noel McGrath then pointed a free before coming agonisingly close to a goal for Tipp when he batted a high ball across the face and narrowly wide of the far post.
It wasn’t long coming, however. After Joe Canning got off the mark with a 65 to level the scores, Maher was alert to a dropping ball at the other end, and to the run of Kelly, who latched on to the handpass and drilled his shot low into the net.
It was a three-point lead Tipp deserved, having played most of the hurling for the first 20 minutes, but they didn’t find a score for nearly another 15.
Instead, Galway, and particularly Joe Canning, took control. The 21-year-old pointed a sumptuous sideline cut and a 50-yard free before feeding Hayes out of the tackle to set up another that restored parity.
Eoin Kelly went for goal from a free but was denied on the line before Ger Farragher slotted over a massive point for Galway, Canning drew a foul and pointed the free and Iarla Tannian scored from a tight angle.
With halftime fast approaching, Tipp needed a point. It came, eventually, via an Eoin Kelly free but Galway were soon rocked by another goal when their defence abandoned Seamus Callinan, who was found brilliantly located by McGrath’s knockdown. The goal was a formality.
The script remained the same after the break. It was kill or be killed. Kelly pointed a free and soon it was time for another goal.
Tipp’s Paul Curran missed an easy pick up after a bit of sloppiness put him under pressure and Hayes collected before bearing down on goal and levelling the scores.
Kelly responded, yet again. Farragher rattled another huge score and Canning won and converted another free. He was yet to point from play but his sheer presence was creating panic and drawing fouls.
Then came Galway’s turn to fall asleep in defence and Gearóid Ryan was the grateful beneficiary when he picked up a loose Patrick Maher handpass about 30 yards out and fired home from five for a two-point lead.
Points were traded again before Ryan and Corbett gave Tipp a bit of breathing space.
It didn’t last long. It was about a minute, in fact, until Joe Canning was pulled down by Padraic Maher in the box. Up he got again, this time to fire his first goal, Galway’s third and the game’s sixth.
Galway landed a few more blows. Hayes was first, then substitutes Kevin Hynes (twice) and Aongus Callanan got their first scores for a two-point advantage.
Amazingly it was six minutes before the next score, partially because of Ollie Canning’s need for treatment after he fell foul of Eoin Kelly and his hurl.
Three minutes left, two points in it. It had to be Tipp if they were to win. And it was, with three quickfire and crucial scores.
Substitute John O’Brien closed the gap, Ryan levelled it and Corbett somehow found space with his back to goal on the righthand side to fire over a glorious winner.
Cruel for the Tribesmen, but another thrilling instalment from them and their great rivals.