Tipperary...3-10 Limerick...2-12: By the nature of the last-chance saloon, results are paramount. But Saturday night's qualifier in the Gaelic Grounds offered a little more to Tipperary.

At the end of a gung-ho hurling match, in front of 26,600 spectators, during which excitement had the upper hand on quality, the winners had survived an injury-time evaporation of their carefully built lead and held on by the thinnest of margins.

Limerick were again furious with refereeing decisions, principally the failure to give them a last-minute free. They had a point but the attack could have been whistled for overcarrying and referee Aodán Mac Suibhne had already played two minutes over the indicated injury time.

For a Tipperary team that had faced fundamental questions as to their desire and appetite, the outcome was as sweet as it was relieving.

"There was a lot of disappointment losing to a last-minute goal against Waterford," said manager Ken Hogan. "We had to recover but you could see it in the play early on. We were uneasy and confidence wasn't as high.

"The fellas gave it everything. The hurling wasn't very good. Our shooting was off and the forwards weren't getting it together. But they blocked, hooked and kept plugging away even when things weren't going for them."

Hogan would have been happy with his defence, where Declan Fanning had a sound championship debut at centre back and Diarmaid Fitzgerald played a lively game back on the wing. But the forwards had problems.

Accuracy was lacking with 11 wides in the first half and only three points scored but there was also a failure to win ball, especially after Eddie Enright departed with a collar-bone injury at the end of the first half.

"It's the bane of my life," sighed Hogan. "We need half forwards trying to win puck-outs. John (Carroll) didn't have a great game at number 11 the last day so we moved him in. Eddie unfortunately got a serious injury to his collar bone. Brendan Cummins was trying to vary his puck-outs but Limerick - Brian Geary, Ollie Moran and Mark Foley - are strong men under the high ball."

Complicating the situation was the misfiring of Eoin Kelly. Hailed as a one-man attack after the Waterford semi-final, Kelly allowed his forward colleagues more of the limelight this time.

Séamus Butler on his full debut was a force field of energy, harrying and working when he wasn't on the attack and delivering a 1-2 total. Carroll bustled away to good effect, denying TJ Ryan as inspirational a match as he'd enjoyed against Cork.

Tipperary kept in touch in the first half thanks to two goals, one made by Carroll and finished by Tommy Dunne and the other scored by Carroll after Butler forced Mickey Cahill into a mistake that spoiled an otherwise impressive performance by the young corner back.

The second goal was vital, coming in direct response to Limerick's first, Andrew O'Shaughnessy following up after Brendan Cummins made another of his acrobatic saves from Donncha Sheehan. Having played with the wind Limerick had only a one-point lead at the break, 1-7 to 2-3.

A third Tipperary goal immediately on the restart, from Butler, set the tone for the second half. Tipp found their range and fired over a volley of points to establish a four-point lead. But Limerick began to win possession and pegged the margin back to one before a Tipp revival restored their four-point margin in injury time.

Then the fun started. Limerick unearthed the goal needed to keep their chances alive. O'Shaughnessy squeezed an angled shot across the square and into the far side of the net. Limerick came again with a late surge from Foley culminating in Donie Ryan getting tangled up in what Limerick bitterly complained was a foul challenge.

"The worry is that you concede the lead," said Hogan. "I thought O'Shaughnessy's goal was a great goal, one in a million. He turned around and he made the room and he stuck it right in the corner of the net.

"Then there was a minute and a half to be played and the fellas stuck at it and didn't give a free, didn't make a lunge or do anything stupid. Limerick were trying to manufacture a free, which you can't blame them for. But we kept our discipline."

His Limerick counterpart, Pad Joe Whelahan, saw the climax differently: "I thought he'd give a free at the end when Donie Ryan had a hurl around the neck. The same happened with Cork. We got some bad decisions against Cork. We didn't play well tonight but fair play, they came back in the second half when the chips were down.

"We gave away two very soft goals but a point beating is very hard. Cork beat us by three. We're only six months down the road but things came very fast for us. Our matches were here at home, which put more pressure on us as a new team. But they hurled well for two championship games."

TIPPERARY: 1. B Cummins; 2. M Maher, 3. P Maher, 4. P Curran; 5. E Corcoran, 6. D Fanning, 7. D Fitzgerald; 8. P Kelly; 9. C Morrissey (0-2); 10. T Dunne (1-1, one pointed free), 11. E Enright, 12. B Dunne (0-1); 13. S Butler (1-2), 14. J Carroll (1-1), 15. E Kelly (0-3, two frees). Subs: 27. B O'Meara for Enright (33 mins), 17. L Corbett for P Kelly (half-time), 29. T Scroope for O'Meara (60 mins), 26. M O'Leary for Butler (69 mins).

LIMERICK: 1. J Cahill; 4. M Cahill, 3. TJ Ryan, 2. D Reale; 5. O Moran, 6. B Geary, 7. P Lawlor; 8. C Smith, 9. M Foley (0-1); 10. M McKenna, 11. JP Sheehan, 12. N Moran (0-7, four frees, 2 65s); 13. A O'Shaughnessy (2-1), 14. S O'Connor, 15. D Sheehan. Subs: 25. J O'Brien (0-1) for JP Sheehan (29 mins), 28. D Ryan for O'Connor (40 mins), 23. D O'Grady (0-1) for Smith (49 mins), 26. P O'Grady for McKenna (57 mins), 27. P Tobin (0-1) for D Sheehan (64 mins).

Referee: A Mac Suibhne (Dublin).