There was controversy at the very end of the Division 4 drawn encounter between Carlow and Tipperary at Netwatch Cullen Park on Saturday.
With the sides level after 73 minutes and with the whistle set to bring an end to an intriguing contest, Carlow's Paddy McDonnell stood over a free out on the left but at an awkward angle. As he strode forward, some Carlow voices were adamant that the visitors had brought one player back and had only two up front.
When the ball dropped short, referee Eoin Morrissey blew the final whistle and ignored the Carlow protests.
The home side will look on this as a point lost rather than a point gained. They led by eight points in the first half and by five at the end of the third quarter with a Kevin Murphy missed penalty hurting them along the way.
Tipperary sensed a reprieve and in a frantic finish, Sean O’Connor’s free levelled the game for the final time after Mark Russell’s two-pointer had set up the dramatic finale.
While Tipperary went ahead thanks to a Russell point, the home side hit back with Aaron Amond raising two white flags and Conor Crowley fisting over while Sean O’Connor also scored a Tipperary point.
It remained tight at four points each after 15 minutes before Murphy created his own bit of history by becoming the first Carlow player to score a two-point free in a competitive game. Steven O’Brien would do the same for Tipperary in the second half.
That early two-pointer appeared to lift the home side and they took a hold when Amond converted a penalty. With Crowley causing all sorts of problems for the Tipperary defence, his side went in leading 1-10 to 0-07 at the interval.
In the opening minutes of the second half, O’Connor swooped for a 37th-minute Premier goal.
Carlow hit straight back when Ross Dunphy accepted a pass from Mikey Bambrick to cancel out the visitor's goal.
And so the scene was set for a fascinating end-game with the visitors probably happier to have taken a share of the spoils.
KEY: tp - two-point score; tpf - two-point free; tpm - two-point mark
Carlow: Johnny Furey; Paddy Regan, Mark Furey, Colin Byrne; Shane Clarke, Ciaran Moran, Mikey Bambrick (0-01); Ian Atkinson, Liam Brennan; Aaron Amond (1-02, 1-00 pen), Conor Doyle (0-01), Paddy McDonnell; Conor Crowley (0-04, 0-01f), Ross Dunphy (1-02), Kevin Murphy (0-02, 1tpf).
Subs: John Murphy (0-01) for Moran (17), Niall Hickey for Amond (51), Darragh O’Brien for Dunphy (67).
Tipperary: Shane Ryan; Manus McFadden, Jimmy Feehan, Emmet Moloney; Eoghan Power (0-01), Luke Boland, Jack Harney (0-01); Cathal Deeley, Mark Russell (0-04, 1tp); Michael Freaney, Steven O’Brien (0-03, 1tpf), Ben Comerford (0-01, 0-01f); Conor Fahey, Sean O’Connor (1-05, 0-02fs), Darragh Brennan.
Subs: Jack O’Neil for Feehan (ht), Tadgh Condon for Moloney (ht), Michael O’Shea for Brennan (ht), Cian Smith (0-01, 0-01f) for Freaney (62), Michael Barlow for Fahey (62).
Referee: Eoin Morrissey (Waterford).
