Tipperary will face arch rivals Kilkenny in this year’s Liam MacCarthy Cup showpiece after edging a pulsating semi-final with Wexford at Croke Park today.

Despite conceding goals to Conor McDonald (2) and Lee Chin and playing the majority of the second-half with 14-men after losing John McGrath to a second yellow card, the Premier County prevailed on a scoreline of 1-28 to 3-20.

Late points from Jason Forde (2) and substitute Jake Morris decided an epic encounter in their favour.

The Wexford supporters outnumbered their Tipp counterparts in the 61,852 strong attendance and Paudie Foley gave them something to cheer about when sending over a long range point after just 14 seconds.

Ronan Maher replied for the Premier County from the resulting puck-out but it was Wexford who enjoyed the better start with Rory O’Connor and full-back Liam Ryan tagging on points.

The first goal opportunity of the contest fell to Shaun Murphy in the 4th minute but his shot was deflected out for a 65 by Ronan Maher which Lee Chin subsequently converted.

Michael Breen had the ball in the Wexford net in the 8th minute but his effort was ruled out by referee Sean Cleere for a foul in the build-up.

There was, however, no disputing Seamus Callanan’s seventh goal of this year’s championship which arrived two minutes later and gave the Munster runners-up the lead (1-2 to 0-4) for the first time.

As predicted in advance, the early exchanges were keenly contested and an expertly finished McDonald goal pushed the Leinster champions into a deserved 1-10 to 1-6 lead on the 25 minute mark.

The 31st minute produced a major talking point when a John McGrath goal was disallowed in bizarre circumstances.

Moments earlier, a long range Chin free looked to have been gathered by Tipp netminder Brian Hogan whose clearance led to McGrath finding the back of the Wexford net.

Referee Cleere called play back, however, and Hawkeye showed that Chin’s free had in fact cleared the Tipp crossbar so Wexford were awarded a point instead. It was a four point swing in 30 seconds!

An absorbing first-half finished with the Slaneysiders 1-14 to 1-12 to the good after Jason Forde and Chin (free) traded scores and it's fair to say that the second-half lived up to expectations.

Whatever Liam Sheedy said to his troops in his half-time team-talk had the desired effect as they outscored their opponents by 0-4 to 0-1 to regain the lead (1-16 to 1-15) by the 40th minute.

Paul Morris got the Bob O’Keeffe Cup holders back on level terms two minutes later and Tipp were dealt a blow when corner-forward McGrath was sent off after a wild swing on Damien Reck earned him a second yellow card.

Rory and Jack O’Connor rubbed salt into Tipp wounds with two unanswered points and it was very much advantage Wexford when a superb individual Chin goal parachuted Davy Fitzgerald’s charges into a 2-18 to 1-16 lead in the 49th minute.

To their credit, 14-man Tipp conjured a great response with five unanswered points and the teams were level for the eight time with 12 minutes left on the clock.

A second McDonald goal in the 60th minute (which had a hint of a square all about it) halted the Tipp comeback temporarily but, with Noel McGrath prominent around the middle third of hte field, Sheedy’s men delved deep into their reservoir of experience to hit the next three points and restore parity once again.

Chin punished a Paudie Maher foul for over-carrying with a pointed free as the clock entered the final minute of the regulation 70 minutes but there was no end to the drama.

Substitute Willie Connors replied for Tipp as six minutes of injury-time was announced and it looked to be game, set and match in Tipperary’s favour when another substitute, Morris, sent the sliotar past Mark Fanning.

Referee Cleere ruled out the goal having blown his whistle for a foul by Ryan on Callanan and awarded a free in instead which Forde pointed. The same player followed up with converted 65 before Morris brought the curtain down on the scoring.

When the dust settles on this classic penultimate stage clash, captain Callanan and his team-mates will turn their attention to renewing their rivalry with the Cats on August 18th.

Tipperary - B Hogan; C Barrett, S Kennedy, B Heffernan; B Maher, Padraic Maher, R Maher (0-2); N McGrath (0-4), M Breen (0-1); D McCormack, J O'Dwyer (0-3), N O’Meara; J Forde (0-12, 8f, 2'65), S Callanan (1-2), J McGrath. Subs: W Connors (0-1) for D McCormack, G Browne (0-1) for M Breen, M Kehoe (0-1) for N O’Meara, J Morris (0-1) for J O’Dwyer.

Wexford - M Fanning; D Reck, L Ryan (0-1), S Donohoe; P Foley (0-1), M O'Hanlon, S Murphy; K Foley (0-1), D O'Keeffe (0-2); L Og McGovern (0-1), C McDonald (2-2), Jack O'Connor (0-1); P Morris (0-2), L Chin (1-6, 0-5f, 0-1'65), R O'Connor (0-3). Subs: A Nolan for S Murphy, Joe O’Connor for D Reck, D Dunne for Jack O’Connor, C Dunbar for R O’Connor.

Referee - S Cleere.

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