Waterford were understandably seething after the final whistle sounded on a dramatic 2-22 apiece draw with Tipperary at the Gaelic Grounds.
For the second weekend running, the Premier County battled back from a losing position to earn a share of the spoils but there was huge controversy surrounding their second goal as a not-so-eagle-eyed umpire wrongly adjudged that Austin Gleeson had allowed Jason Forde's long-range free to cross the line in the 62nd minute.
Television replays (which of course the match officials don't have access to) confirmed the widely held suspicion that Gleeson had kept the sliothar out; Alan Kelly and his unpopular umpires had to be given a Garda escort off the field after the final whistle.
Goals from the outstanding Tom Devine and Pauric Mahony in the ninth and 25th minutes respectively had Derek McGrath's men, who made all the running, ahead by 2-12 to 0-12 at half time and they received a third major boost before the break when Tipp corner back Michael Cahill was sent off in injury time for a second yellow card offence.
Tipperary needed a strong start to the second half but it was Na Deise who reeled off four points inside five minutes to surge ten clear, Stephen Bennett, Mahony (2) and Patrick Curran raising white flags.
With 10,237 in attendance, the Suirsiders looked set for a comfortable victory as DJ Foran's point eased them eleven clear after 50 minutes, 2-19 to 0-14. The gap remained at eleven inside the fourth quarter as Tommy Ryan cancelled out a Forde free.
Then came the comeback from the 14 men: substitute Cathal Barrett and Forde (free) pointed before sub Patrick Maher slotted a goal 13 minutes from the end. After Forde (free) and Seamus Callanan pulled back two more, the former's controversial goal that wasn't (but was) left the minimum between them all of a sudden.
Waterford got themselves back on the scoreboard via a Mahony free on 68 minutes and still led by two in injury time as Jake Dillon cancelled out Forde's point.
But they were incensed again when the man in the middle over-ruled his umpires to award a 72nd-minute Ronan Maher point and Forde duly knocked over a late, late free to tie the scores up for the first time since the third minute, ensuring that this remarkable Munster championship produced yet another dramatic draw.
Waterford, however, will feel rightly aggrieved as all the big decisions that defined this game went against them. Defeat today would have all but knocked Tipp out of the championship. Controversially, they are still standing. For good or for bad, we'll all be talking about this game for a long, long time. Such is the drama of sport.
Waterford - S O'Keeffe; C Gleeson, S Fives, N Connors; Philip Mahony (0-1), A Gleeson, M Walsh; J Barron (0-3), S Roche; Pauric Mahony (1-8, 0-5f), P Curran (0-2), DJ Foran (0-3); M Kearney, T Devine (1-2), S Bennett (0-1). Subs: T Ryan (0-1) for M Kearney, B O'Halloran for P Curran, J Dillon (0-1) for DJ Foran, C Dunford for S Roche, S McNulty for N Connors.
Tipperary - B Hogan; S O'Brien, S Kennedy, M Cahill; Joe O'Dwyer, Padraic Maher, B Maher; R Maher (0-3), B McCarthy (0-1); D McCormack, J Forde (1-14, 1-13f), John O'Dwyer; N McGrath (0-1), S Callanan (0-2), J McGrath. Subs: Patrick Maher (1-0) for John O'Dwyer, C Barrett (0-1) for N McGrath, J Morris for J McGrath, S Curran for D McCormack, W Connors for B McCarthy.
Referee - A Kelly.
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