Tipperary 2-18
Waterford 1-15

Josh Keane was the Tipperary goal scoring hero as his side finished the stronger to see off the challenge of Waterford.

The sides went point for point early on before the home side rolled over two successive scores from Patrick Curran to take a 0-4 to 0-2 lead after seven minutes.

Tom Fox narrowed the gap to one before Curran swapped points with Josh Keane. The home side then hit three quick scores from Mark O'Brien and Curran (2) to take a 0-9 to 0-5 lead.

Tipperary looked to be in a spot of trouble at this point but put in a terrific shift in the second quarter to turn the game on its head.

Three points from Keane were followed by an equaliser from Shane Hennessy before Keane scored 1-1, with the goal coming from a penalty, to put the Premier ahead by 1-10 to 0-9 entering first half injury time,. There was still time for more excitement as Michael Kearney grabbed a Waterford goal in the last action of the half to leave the minimum between the sides at the break.

On the restart Tipperary stretched the lead to two points but Waterford kept chipping away and after the sides swapped points, Curran landed two fine Deise scores to tie the game up, 1-12 apiece.

Then came the crucial score of the game as Keane bagged his second goal of the game and when Willie Connors pointed, Tipperary had opened up a four point advantage (2-13 to 1-12) entering the final quarter.

Curran and the impressive Keane swapped points before Waterford's Curran left just a goal between the sides entering the final five minutes.

Keane, who bagged 2-9 on the night, Conor Lanigan and Conor Gleeson rattled off three killer points at the Premier finished the game the stronger and ensured their participation in the semi-finals.

Tipperary - B Hogan; A Tierney, J Ryan, D Peters; B Heffernan, R Maher, T Kirwan; T Fox, W Connors (0-3); S Ryan, C O'Riordan (0-2), S Hennessy (0-1); C Lanigan (0-3), J Keane (2-9, 1-0 pen, 7f), M McCarthy. Subs: K Dunne for Hennessy, J Mackey for McCarthy, F O'Sullivan for Ryan.

Waterford - S Clancy; W Hahessy, S O'Neill, C Leamy; K Daly, A Gleeson, M Harney; M O'Brien (0-1), T Devine (0-1); Shane Bennett, C Roche, A Farrell (0-1); P Curran (0-11, 8f, 1 '65), DJ Foran, M Kearney (1-0). Subs: C Gleeson (0-1) for O'Brien, C Curran for Daly, Stephen Bennett for Farrell, MJ Sutton for Shane Bennett.

Referee - J O'Connell. Tweet

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