LIAM CAHILL hailed Kilkenny for not kicking up a fuss over scoregate – and says Tipperary have moved on from the saga.
Noel McGrath’s wide in Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final was waved wide by the umpire, but the Croke Park scoreboard registered the point.
GAA officials declared that the Premier had won 4-21 to 0-30 – but McGrath’s effort was subsequently chalked off, and the official scoreline was changed to 4-20 to 0-30.
Believing they were three points down, the Cats chased a goal in vain before the Premier advanced to the All-Ireland final against Cork.
And boss Cahill lauded the Cats for leaving it at that ahead of their July 20 showdown against the Rebels.
He said: “We know Kilkenny from the start of time are a huge hurling county and I said that afterwards. Like ourselves, if Kilkenny don’t win it on the field, they ain’t going to bring it to the boardroom, that’s for sure.
“For me, we were going on the scoreboard. Through Declan Laffan and the lads down the earpiece, there might have been a little query alright but for us we were playing what was in front of us.
“What can we say sure, it’s human error, that’s the bottom line. A mistake was made but it had no effect on us, on what we wanted to achieve at the end of the day, which was just to get the result.
“Everybody in the GAA, we do our best to try and do things voluntary and keep things as right as we can and unfortunately it was just human error. What can be done, only move on.
“It was out of our control, really. It is unfortunate. From the outset, these boys here were just concentrating on getting over the line.
“Look, you can go into all the ins and out of it, there were several other passages of play, decisions that work out throughout the 74-plus minutes.
“The reality is that’s what big matches like that are made of and you just roll with the punches and you take the hits.”
Meanwhile Galway’s Liam Gordon will referee his first ever All-Ireland final when Tipperary clash with Cork.
The Killimor clubman refereed Clare’s defeat to the Rebels Cork and Limerick’s victory over Pat Ryas’s men the Munster SHC this summer.
He also took charge of Antrim’s Leinster SHC loss to Dublin and Limerick’s shock All-Ireland quarter-final loss to the Sky Blues last month.
