IT'S hard to know which pari of this match told the truth. After 52 minutes, Tipperary were cruising, 1-12 to 0-8, but for the remainder of the match they struggled mightily as Laois chased down the lead.

In the end, Tipperary were relieved to hold on for a two point margin in yesterday's semifinal, sponsored by Church & General, whereas Laois were happy enough to have avoided a wipe out and demonstrated some spirit.

It was a fine afternoon at Nowlan Park, Kilkenny, and a crowd of around 17,000 were treated to a match somewhat lower on spectacle than the tightness of the final scoreline suggests. A storming display by John Leahy, Laois's tenacious comeback, and the second half intrusions on to the field of a mystery dog - eventually despatched by the Francis of Assisi qualities of referee Dickie Murphy - were the highlights of the hour.

Leahy's tally of 1-4 was a fair reflection of his overall input for the afternoon. He started quietly, with his marker Niall Rigney making the greater initial impact, gradually picked up momentum and by the end of the afternoon had hit some splendid scores, including a couple from the free taking duties he was assigned for most of the second half.

The ability to take scores when the opportunities presented themselves was ultimately the difference between the teams, but there were also other matters at stake. Tipperary's defence was much tighter and more aggressive than Kilkenny's had been in the quarter final against Laois.

As a result, the losers were unable to make much capital from the mayhem their physical forwards created from time to time. Tipperary's corner back George Frend - converted from the wing after the late withdrawal of Noel Sheehy - had a good afternoon tidying up ball and closing down Laois's frenetic attacks.

Paul Shelly moved to full back with Conal Bonnar coming into the team at wing back.

Laois did have chances. Declan Conroy and Owen Coss performed well at midfield and established a good platform from which Conroy contributed three well taken points from play. The story of Laois's afternoon, however, was reflected in the statistical achievements of the attack. Only one, David Cuddy, of the selected forwards scored and after only 20 minutes, manager Babs Keating was forced to send on Declan Rooney whose upcoming examinations in UCG had prompted his withdrawal from the panel for a couple of weeks, but who had agreed to sit on the bench.

A number of openings were created, but Declan Rooney, Seamus Cuddy and PJ Cuddy twice including in the last minute when there was a chance to win the match - fluffed the goal chances. Too often Laois's assaults on goal resembled old style village football with several forwards descending on the square in an "attempt to rush the ball into the net. In addition, Niall Rigney had another poor afternoon with the placed ball and missed three chances within his normal range.

At the other end, Tipperary had their problems. Laois's accomplished full back line conceded only a point from play all afternoon and Nicky English and Kevin Tucker, at either end of the scales of experience, suffered from the restrictive attentions of Cyril Duggan and John Taylor.

English had a frustrating afternoon in his first competitive match in to months. He tried hard but too often was chasing the game - and with visibly less pace than in days gone by. Tucker had a quiet first half and was promptly replaced despite the encouraging League he has had to date.

Captain Michael Cleary remains in a bit of a rut and hopes that a recent revival in his club form would trigger something similar for the county were disappointed. He hit four wides and one point during a sometimes bad humoured contest with Laois's, captain, the effective John O Sullivan.

Midfield didn't go well for Tipperary, despite two splendid points from play by Brian O'Meara. In the end, Raymie Ryan was substituted by Conor Gleeson. The winners final substitution was forced, but had important consequences with veteran Pat Fox coming on for the injured Decian Ryan and hitting a nonchalant, over the shoulder point in the 56th minute which slowed Laois's momentum just sufficiently to help Tipperary home.

In truth, Tipperary's win didn't really look in doubt until the late flurry of activity. Having traded scores to 0-2 apiece, they pulled away with a sequence of points and in the 17th minute, Leahy scored the goal that set the trend for the rest of the afternoon.

It is also the easiest reference point when looking for the exact moment that he gained the ascendancy over Rigney. Slipping away from his marker, Leahy popped up on the other wing, disdained a certain point and crashed the ball into the net. The surprise was probably as potent as the force of the strike as it flew by Ricky Cashin in the Laois goal.

Trailing at half time by 0-5 to 1-7, Laois started the second half with the wind and scored immediately through a David Cuddy free. Tipperary had no difficulty maintaining their margin and even increased it with a couple of points in quick succession from, Eddie Tucker, who was then mysteriously switched to the corner with English coming out to the 40.

The score that so nearly turned the match came in the 53rd minute when Joe Dollard hit a long, accurate ball into PJ Cuddy who was fouled for a penalty. Cashin made the long journey from his own goal to take it and despatched the ball to the net.

Fox's point held Laois's revival in cheek, but they finished with a strong three point burst to close the gap to two and set up a dramatic closing minute when both Fox and PJ Cuddy might have had goals at either end.

Afterwards, Laois appeared content to return to championship preparation with their dignity intact whereas Tipperary had a disgruntled air - presumably at the manner in which they had nearly given away the initiative.

Galway Tipperary matches don't have quite the same resonance these days, but the final in two weeks in Limerick will feature two in form teams with realistic championship aspirations.