TIPPERARY have set up a Munster grudge match with Waterford in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship after beating Galway by a single point in an absolute thriller at Croke Park.

Lar Corbett’s injury time point was enough to clinch victory for Tipp, 3-17 to 3-16, after a thrilling encounter which saw the sides level nine times.

Tipp took an early 0-4 to 0-1 lead before Galway’s Eanna Ryan brilliantly levelled with the first of the game’s six goals – though Tipp responded shortly afterward with Eoin Kelly restoring the lead of three.

The Tribesmen put together six straight points to go three ahead, before a brief 1-2 from Tipp – capped with a Seamus Callanan goal – put the Premier in front at half time.

Galway opened the second half with a magnificent Damien Hayes goal, but Gearoid Ryan responded to leave Tipp ahead by three, with Corbett pushing the lead to four.

But when Joe Canning was fouled on the hour, he buried the penalty himself – and points from Damien Hayes (2), Kevin Hynes and sub Aengus Callanan put the Galwegians in front again, only for Tipp to turn the tide decisively with points from John O’Brien and Gearoid Ryan before Corbett’s late winner.

“I don’t know where we go from here,” Galway manager John McIntyre – a native Tipp man – admitted to RTÉ’s Sunday Game afterward, saying that his side had only been second best as a result of small breaks across the pitch.

Saying his side played as best they could, McIntyre said: ”There’s such a thin line between winning and losing. When teams lose games, there’s a perception out there that management are off the pace, that players are off the pace.”

That hadn’t been the case for Galway, he insisted. ”Jesus, this is tough,” he said, before leaving back to a disconsolate Galway dressing room.

For Tipp the summer rolls on, with a semi-final against Waterford beckoning in three weeks’ time.

In the other semi-final, Cork will face their bitterest rivals, old foes Kilkenny, in a fortnight.