Allen refuses to blame ref on goal issue

Limerick boss John Allen refused to criticise referee Barry Kelly for failing to penalise Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher in the build-up to Tipperary’s crucial second goal.

Video replays showed Maher over-carried the ball which led to Brian O’Meara’s strike which swung the tie in Tipp’s favour.

Allen insisted: “I’m not going to criticise Barry Kelly. I thought in the first half we got the rub of the green at times. I would have no doubt, I think he did hold on to the ball too long but he (Kelly) has to make decisions in real time and we have to accept them.

“I suppose the goal in the first half I’d be more — I won’t say annoyed about, but it came against the run of play.

“We were working extremely hard to get points and the goal was a killer.”