Referee Praised As Limerick Throw Ball Penalised At Pivotal Moment In Tipp Draw

It was an unforgettable day of hurling on Sunday as the Munster Senior Hurling Championship round robin got underway. Tipperary and Limerick picked up right where Cork and Clare left off and delivered 70 madcap minutes of epic hurling.

The story of the match will be Tipp's huge performance against the six-time reigning Munster champions, and how a team with four debutantes nearly beat mighty Limerick.

A young Tipp team put in a strong League in a make-or-break season for Liam Cahill, only to be humbled by Cork in the League final. It's been a fallow number of years for Tipp but when John O'Brien scored his second goal in the second half, Thurles was rocking and Tipp fans were believing again.

While Tipp needed a Darragh McCarthy free in extra time to level things, Tipp fans will head home feeling like they could have beat Limerick.

Perhaps the game's pivotal moment came in the 74th minute, with Tipp trailing by one and having time for a single attack. David Reidy claimed the Tipp puckout near the sideline. He passed to Will O'Donoghue who was surrounded by Tipp players. As O'Donoghue offloaded the sliotar, he was penalised by referee Thomas Walsh for a throw ball.

Darragh McCarthy converted a high-pressure free to equalise the game once and for all 2-23 to 2-23.

It was a big call, considering the time left in the game and the infraction itself.

Kilkenny great Tommy Walsh was on co-commentary on GAA Plus and it was fascinating to get his reaction to the incident in real time.

I questioned the one against Noel McGrath earlier - and it was. Let's see it here. Sure it was a throw. I don't like seeing lads being caught for that, but it was a throw in fairness.

We don't like handpassing, full stop. We just want to get the ball and drive it up, man on man, you know.

It was the fourth time in the game that Walsh had blown for a throw ball, with Limerick pinged three times for it.

Limerick's alleged use of the thrown ball has become the source of an endless amount of social media commentary over the past few years.

It's a hugely difficult area for a referee to police but it was clearly something that the referee was not going to tolerate.

On the whole, Walsh's performance drew plaudits from both Walsh and the GAA Plus pundits for letting the game flow.

Speaking after the game, Liam Cahill was full of praise for his team.

"Ah sure it was pretty hectic stuff. Typical Munster championship. The gift that keeps on giving. Really proud of our boys today. These boys are giving it everything for the jersey.

"We're very conscious that this only the first round of the Munster championship. There's three savage battles coming.

"We have to try to close a 10 point deficit in Páirc uí Chaoimh in what will be a cauldron."

For Round Two, Cork will host Tipp while Clare travel to Waterford.

There's no let up in this competition.