Tipperary's minor hurlers secured a 1-19 to 2-12 win over Kilkenny at Croke Park to set up a first-ever all-Munster ESB All-Ireland MHC final next month. The champions came good with a stunning late onslaught to book a date with provincial rivals Cork on September 2nd. Tipp made it a repeat of the Munster final by turning a three point deficit into an ultimately comfortable four point victory margin over the Leinster lads. In a hectic climax to the match, Shane Brennan's 42nd minute goal, followed by an Adrian Stapleton point handed the Cats a 2-11 to 1-11 lead with 18 minutes left to play. Tipp had earlier raced into a 1-5 to 0-2 lead inside the opening 17 minutes but then were held to just one point for the rest of the half. After managing just one point in the opening 14 minutes, Kilkenny got into their stride and thanks to a fine Stapleton goal which helped counter Michael Heffernan's major after nine minutes. Kilkenny worked hard to extend their 1-7 to 1-6 interval lead but the sides were to be level three times early in the second half. Brennan's goal for the Cats seemed to give his side the edge but, instead, it was Tipp who managed to finish with a flourish to leave them on course for back to back All-Ireland titles. Tipperary - J Logue, K O'Gorman, Padraig Maher, S O'Brien, N McGrath, J Coghlan, J Barry, M Cahill, J Gallagher, S Hennessy 0-7, C Lorigan, B Maher 0-2, J O'Neill 0-4, Patrick Maher, M Heffernan 1-3. Subs: S Carey 0-2 for Gallagher, P Murphy 0-1 for Cahill, D O'Brien for Patrick Maher Kilkenny - C McGrath, C Fogarty, K Mooney, E Malone, J Fitzpatrick 0-1, D Langton, M Bergin, P Murphy, M Fagan, J Brennan 0-2, M Moloney 0-1, M Murphy, C Fennelly, A Stapleton 1-2, S Brennan 1-6. Subs: O Walsh for Malone, J Nolan for Moloney, T Breen for Fagan, D Walton for Fennelly, C McQuillan for Langton Referee - G Devlin (Armagh) Tweet

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