Eamonn Fitzmaurice breathed a huge sigh of relief as his Munster and All-Ireland champions escaped with a draw against Cork - helped by a dubious penalty decision.
The contentious second-half spot-kick awarded against Cork's Mark Collins for a foul on James O'Donoghue threw the Kingdom a lifeline which they gratefully accepted.
Speaking to RTE's The Sunday Game, Fitzmaurice conceded: "I think we were lucky enough to get a penalty.
"We needed something to happen at that stage. In fairness to James he showed great maturity and great bottle to slot it and we really needed it.
"I think word is that it was a soft penalty so, if that's the case, we were lucky"
His Rebel counterpart Brian Cuthbert reflected on a lost opportunity: "I'm delighted with the way we performed, certainly in the second-half there we gave it everything we had.
"I suppose when It comes down to fine margins we're disappointed. I haven't seen any footage yet of the decisions but that's the way the cookie crumbles."
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