Canning claims Tipp defender 'saved' the GAA

Joe Canning believes the score confusion which overshadowed Tipperary’s All-Ireland SHC semi-final victory over Kilkenny would have far greater repercussions if Robert Doyle hadn’t denied John Donnelly a late goal.

The closing stages were shrouded in controversy after the scoreboard operator incorrectly added a point to Tipperary’s tally. The GAA later clarified in a statement that the correct scoreline was actually Tipperary 4-20 Kilkenny 0-30, and not Tipperary 4-21 Kilkenny 0-30 as what appeared on the Croke Park scoreboard at full-time.

Believing that they were three points down instead of two, Kilkenny went for goals in the dying moments, and would actually have won the game but for the Tipp defender’s last-gasp goal-line save.

“Psychologically, it makes a big difference to the players when you're chasing three or four points instead of two points. It's different,” Canning said on The Sunday Game.

“You kind of panic a bit when it gets into the red, trying to chase the game and get a goal. Route one is what most lads do, very little teams go through the lines...

“He's lucky, because if they got that goal at the end of the match, Kilkenny would have won by the referee.

“They would have been a point up, but everyone in the stadium would have thought it was a draw match.

“He saved the GAA I'd say,” the Galway legend jokingly added.