DUAL star Aidan Walsh came to Cork's rescue with three late points to seal victory over a Tipperary side which did little wrong over the 70 minutes on Saturday night.
Introduced as a sub just before half-time, Walsh (right) kicked points in the 67th, 70th and 72nd minutes to ensure his side avoided a first Munster SFC defeat to Tipperary since 1944.
Cork manager Brian Cuthbert was a relieved man at the end of the game and paid tribute to the impact Walsh had.
"I suppose you'd have to credit Aidan Walsh for what he did in the last six or seven minutes,' said Cuthbert.
"He's kicked very little football and to kick those off his right and left and win the game for us, it's a fair testament to him."
Tipperary put it up to their more illustrious opponents from the start and led by a point at half-time after Conor Sweeney netted just before the break.
On the restart, Tipp were again quickly out of the blocks with the first score from Sweeney.
Indeed, Peter Creedon's men were still two points in front, 1-11 to 0-12, with three minutes remaining and it appeared that an upset was in the offing, but Walsh saved the Rebels' blushes.
Cuthbert maintained that he was confident his side would prevail despite the narrow winning margin.
"It didn't look good but even when (their lead) went up to three points I wasn't thinking 'game gone' or anything," he said.
"I had a lot of these younger guys and we've all seen the older guys over the years and fortitude and heart is something they're not lacking."