From a Tipperary point of view I was expecting the equalising goal because Limerick had always seemed able to find scores during the match. Barry Foley got scores, Ollie Moran got scores at will and Pat Tobin made an impact when he came on.

They were always hanging around the premises and the longer they stayed in it the more the confidence grew and the more the supporters got behind them.

The crowd really came into it. It was like in the 1996 Munster final when Limerick came back against Tipp at the same venue and it's hard to counteract.

Going into the match I had felt that Tipp's defence would be steady and the bigger problem would probably be getting scores up front. But in the end it was the other way around. The attack stood up even if Eoin Kelly wasn't at his best - for all that he still scored two great points.

Although Willie Ryan was entrusted with the frees I was a bit surprised that Eoin wasn't give the opportunity to take a couple and maybe get himself into the rhythm of things in the first 15 minutes when I thought he was taking a lot of punishment.

Anyway my expectation was that Tipp from one to nine would be adequate, but instead they gave away scores too easily. The loss of the regular full back was a huge problem, particularly when it was six against five, and it's not good news that Paul Curran's injury is not expected to have cleared before the replay because Declan Fanning's not a natural full back. It might be worth looking into getting Philip Maher back on to the panel.

Overall, Limerick deserved the draw. They fought hard and Tipp couldn't put them away. Before Limerick lost Damien Reale to a red card they conceded a goal and subsequently went four points down, but Tipperary could never get the margin to more than three for the rest of the game.

In the first 15 minutes I felt that Tipp looked the more likely winners. They had greater economy while Limerick shot some bad wides. Eoin Kelly was quiet but Shane McGrath and James Woodlock were on top in the middle, Ryan O'Dwyer was playing well and Darragh Egan chipped in.

At that stage, at 15 a side, Limerick were overdoing the aggression, however, and that led to indiscipline in the first quarter. Stephen Lucey, Damien Reale and Mike O'Brien were among those who seemed to lose their heads for a while, giving away silly frees, which helped Tipp settle.

Limerick had some good chances early on, but the indiscipline didn't serve them well. It caused them to lose their focus which led to the Tipp goal, left them a man short and once or twice they looked as if they could lose someone else, which would have meant the game was over.

But they regrouped and rebalanced. Ollie Moran carried the fight and Mike O'Brien as well. In defence Séamus Hickey was absolutely outstanding and epitomised the Limerick spirit. Mark O'Riordan and Mark Foley, until he tired, were also immense.

Tipperary's use of the spare man in the full back line didn't work. If you're using a man there everyone should play their positions. Instead, the extra man got caught sweeping and leaving the inside defenders two on two, which can be very dangerous.

A key point is that, looking back, I can't even be sure who Tipp were using in the spare role and that's not a good sign.

I felt for a long time that a sucker punch was on the way because Limerick were putting in such effort. From Tipp's point of view it was a bad game to draw, but it would have been a terrible game to lose. They were good at times, but lacked cohesion and had no great pattern to their game.

Benny Dunne started brightly and was prominent in the first 10 minutes, but ultimately his selection at centre back was ineffective. Conor O'Mahony should have switched earlier and when he did, he steadied things and showed that he's the best centre back in Tipperary.

At intercounty level centre backs have to be able to do more than hurl. They need to be bulwarks of the defence.

During the game I thought Limerick would run out of steam and it was a fantastic effort in that heat in the last five minutes. It was Tipp who were happy to hear the final whistle and who looked like they were playing for time, bringing on Liam Cahill at the very end while Limerick had found another gear.

Limerick can take more from this, but at the same time they still have issues. They find it hard to score and missed scores when the match was 15 a side.

They did hit a high in terms of effort and passion, which often happens when a team is reduced to 14. But when it's back to 15 against 15 on the open spaces in Thurles, they may still struggle to put Tipperary away.