Tipperary held on for a 2-18 to 0-20 victory over Galway in an entertaining clash witnessed by 4,176 paying spectators at Semple Stadium.

Third-quarter goals from John O'Dwyer and Seamus Callanan proved the difference between the teams at the final whistle, but it was a nervy finish for the winners as Anthony Cunningham's men came at them with purpose in the closing stages.

In a dramatic finale, the Premier County saw a nine-point lead reduced to three by a run of six unanswered Galway points. With Joseph Cooney rampant, the visitors had all the momentum and wind advantage but an injury-time Conor Kenny point - their first score in 15 minutes! - made sure that Tipp recorded their first win of the campaign and moved level with today's opponents on the table.

With a strong wind at their backs in the first half, the winners built up a three-point interval advantage, 0-14 to 0-11. The gap had been five with the short whistle approaching but a couple of late Jason Flynn points, including one from a sideline cut, seemingly gave the Tribesmen a great opportunity of mounting a second-half revival.

Any notions Galway might have had that things would be easier upon the resumption were immediately dispelled as O'Dwyer had the ball in their net within 20 seconds of the restart, firing low past Colm Callanan to double the gap. When Callanan followed up with a magnificent - but contentious -Tipp goal in the eleventh minute of the second half, the hosts were ahead by ten, 2-15 to 0-11.

Tipp led by 0-4 to 0-2 after 14 minutes and had goalkeeper Darren Gleeson to thank after he executed a fine save to deny James Regan. Regan's 24th-minute point had the gap down to one, 0-6 to 0-5, but Tipp pushed on with scores from Ronan Maher and O'Dwyer. Before the break, Callanan (1-3 for the day) lit up the murk at Semple Stadium with a breathtaking, wizard-like solo point.

The game was closely contested for the most part but a dominant third-quarter showing from Eamon O'Shea's charges ultimately proved decisive.

Tipperary - D Gleeson (0-1f); C Barrett, P Curran, C O'Brien; M Breen, P Maher, R Maher (0-1); K Bergin (0-3), G Ryan (0-1); D Maher (0-1), J Forde (0-3), B Maher (0-1); J O'Dwyer (1-1), S Callanan (1-3, 0-2f), J McGrath (0-2). Subs: J Woodlock for G Ryan, C Kenny (0-1) for D Maher, N McGrath for J McGrath, J Meagher for K Bergin.

Galway - C Callanan; J Coen, J Hanbury, P Mannion; G McInerney, D Collins, I Tannian (0-1); J Cooney (0-3), A Smith (0-2, 1f); P Brehony (0-2), C Mannion (0-3), D Higgins (0-1); J Regan (0-2), J Flynn (0-4, 3f, 1sl), J Glynn (0-1). Subs: K Hynes for P Brehony, G Lally for D Higgins, B Molloy (0-1) for J Regan, A Harte for J Flynn.

Referee - J Owens.

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