Colm Bonnar claimed his first inter-county victory over Brian Cody as Tipperary eked out a one-point win over Kilkenny in their Allianz Hurling League Division 1 clash at Semple Stadium.
Jason Forde struck 10 points and Jake Morris 1-02 as the Premier led for the vast majority of the game, with Padraig Walsh's 0-04 and a Tadhg O’Dwyer goal just after the hour keeping the Cats alive.
Bonnar had failed to beat Kilkenny in his previous meetings as Wexford and Carlow boss, and his side made hard work of this encounter.
These rivals had last met in the 2019 All-Ireland final, with a massive personnel overhaul of both counties since summed up in just 12 of those starting names remaining for this clash.
Kilkenny’s five names will be bolstered once the Ballyhale Shamrocks contingent return, and certainly their absence was felt in the first half as the Cats converted just eight of 23 efforts.
The statistics showed that a quarter of the 44 shooting efforts between the two teams were mishit, as the hosts struggled to implement their new short passing game.
Forde hit three points inside the opening ten minutes, added to by a 100-yard free from goalkeeper Brian Hogan.
John Donnelly raised a white flag and Kilkenny spirits on 13 minutes, as the crowd began to murmour loudly during a low-quality first half.
Jake Morris, the marauding Barry Heffernan, Ger Browne, Michael Breen, Denis Maher and Forde again helped extend Tipp their lead to 0-10 to 0-4.
Undeterred, the Cats hit four in a row to pull themselves back into contention: Tom Phelan, two Donnelly frees, and the dynamic Walsh doing the needful.
Just before half-time, goalkeeper Eoin Murphy miscued with a short puckout which was intercepted by Denis Maher.
The burly full-forward fed Morris, who drove past two Kilkenny defenders and whipped the ball to the net with a one-handed finish.
Down by 1-11 to 0-8 at the interval, Kilkenny flew out of the blocks. Phelan was hooked as he drove through on goal, but then the visitors hit seven of the next eight points to draw level.
Donnelly, Cian Kenny, Walsh, Niall Brassil, Paddy Deegan and Martin Keoghan did the scoring, giving this emerging Cats side a sniff at victory.
Parity on the scoreboard lasted just a few moments though as Morris popped over an easy score, before Ronan Maher came off the bench to lift proceedings.
The Thurles Sarsfields man scored a beauty from the sideline and drove his team forwards, while Dillon Quirke and Heffernan continuously got on the ball as Tipp stuck to their system.
Hogan produced a great save from Richie Leahy and then Morris did likewise at the other end, before the Cats drew back to within two points.
The impressive Billy Ryan won a ball in the corner, turned infield, and fed O'Dwyer to stretch the net from close range.
Forde steadied the Tipp ship but Wally Walsh put two points to his name in quick succession to level the game going into the final minutes.
Substitute Seamus Callanan spurned a goal chance in the 70th minute as Mikey Carey got his body in the way, before Forde knocked over a winning free won by the exceptional Cathal Barrett.
Tipperary: Brian Hogan (0-1f); Cathal Barrett, James Quigley, Craig Morgan; Dillon Quirke, Seamus Kennedy, Barry Heffernan (0-2); Alan Flynn, Michael Breen (0-1); Dan McCormack, Jason Forde (0-10; 0-5f), Ger Browne (0-1); Mark Kehoe, Denis Maher (0-1), Jake Morris (1-2)
Subs: Paddy Cadell for Breen (45), Ronan Maher (0-1) for Browne (51), Seamus Callanan for D Maher (56), Paul Flynn for Kehoe (67), Conor Stakelum for McCormack (71)
Kilkenny: Eoin Murphy; Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Evan Cody; Mikey Carey (0-1), Niall Brassil (0-1), David Blanchfield (0-1); Cian Kenny (0-1), Paddy Deegan (0-1); Richie Leahy, Padraig Walsh (0-4), Tom Phelan (0-1); Billy Ryan, Martin Keoghan (0-1), John Donnelly (0-5, 0-4f)
Subs: Tommy Walsh for Cody (3), Cillian Buckley for Blanchfield (temp 26-31), Wally Walsh (0-2) for Phelan (46), Tadhg O’Dwyer (1-0) for Leahy (56), John Walsh for Donnelly (59)
Referee: Liam Gordon (Galway)
