Tipperary edged a thrilling Munster minor opener against Waterford in front of 1,500 supporters at Fraher Field (1-22 to 0-23).
The home side went oh so close to snatching victory at the death when a Jack Twomey flick was deflected away for a 65. Twomey was top scorer for Shane Ahearne's side with twelve points.
The sides were level five times in the second half before a sublime sideline cut from Damien Corbett on 58 minutes gave Tipp a lead that they didn't relinquish. Corbett scored 1-8 and was a thorn in Waterford's side all night. Midfielder Ciaran Foley shot six points while full forward Tom Delaney got three.
At the other end, Twomey tormented the Tipp full backs. Conor Tobin and Billy O'Connell also shone for the Déise but they gave away too many soft scores.
Ahearne was disappointed by what he saw from his team. "We didn't play well here tonight. If we had got that last gasp victory, it might have papered over the cracks. We're not happy. Near the end, when the game was in the melting pot, Tipperary got one or two scores that were too soft. We need to man up a bit better than we did tonight. There's still a championship to be won. If you're going to lose a game, this is the one to lose but I don't like losing any match. There has to be a reaction to that."
