Lar Corbett on 2010 All-Ireland: 'It's a win that gets sweeter every year'
PREMIER CLASS: Lar Corbett, Tipperary, celebrates after scoring his side’s first goal in the All-Ireland hurling final against Kilkenny at Croke Park on Sunday, September 5, 1010. Corbett’s hat-trick destroyed Kilkenny dreams of completing a five in a row.
It’s fair to say Paddy Gleeson is proud of his son-in-law Lar Corbett.
December 15, 2012, the day he married his daughter Elaine is one of the best days of his life. Likewise, the births of his four granddaughters.
But dare it be said that September 5, 2010 has a greater resonance for Gleeson. The day Corbett’s three goals ruined Kilkenny’s five-in-a-row dreams.
Just as Offaly people never tire of rewatching Seamus Darby’s goal that denied Kerry a similar fear, neither does Gleeson tire of taking himself back to that otherwise dreary Sunday afternoon.
“Every time I call up to the house he’s watching it on his own in front of the TV,” laughs Corbett. “He’s a passionate Tipperary man, a passionate Upperchurch-Drombane man living in Thurles 40 years. And every time it’s like it’s his first time.”
Stopping Kilkenny had never been an aim but was rather a bonus for Corbett and Tipperary; the wrongs of the 2009 final were what had to be put right.
But over the last 10 years he’s got to appreciate what it meant to people. “After a few pints at a wedding, people would loosen up and they all go back to 2010 and it’s fascinating to hear about who they were with, some of who have since passed, where they were. It’s like a fine wine — it gets sweeter every year when people mention it. But at the time we only wanted to win for ourselves.”
Beforehand, it had been agreed Corbett and Noel McGrath would alternate between centre and full-forward on a continuous basis.
Corbett had started at 11 but had moved to the edge of the square by the time Shane McGrath landed the ball in there in the 10th minute.
Outfielding a full back of Noel Hickey’s stature sent out a message, but Corbett knew he had an edge.
“A left-handed hurler coming from behind like that does have an advantage because the hurley is in the left hand and you’re able to push your body across the defender and your catching hand is away from him. You’re catching him unawares from behind too.”
Four minutes later, Tipperary might have felt three of their numbers were up when Henry Shefflin left the fray after his cruciate gave in having torn it in the previous win against Cork.
Would Kilkenny have fared better had he not broken down? Corbett suggests the five-in-a-row chatter had more of an impact on them.
“Kilkenny were coming into that game with a lot of pressure with 10,000 watching them in training while Henry and John Tennyson were down getting treatment with Ger Hartmann. There was huge talk about the boys in the media, a lot of sideshows that Kilkenny had to try and deal with.
“The only pressure on us was from ourselves after the disappointment of 2009 whereas all the talk was this team being the greatest of all time and on the verge of doing something that had never been done.”
While it was no fault of Shefflin’s, Eddie Brennan knew the circus around that and the five-in-a-row didn’t help.
“With the whole Henry thing, I think historically that when you don’t have a smooth run-in and not everything is good in terms of injuries and stuff you will get caught out.
"The whole Adrian Mullen situation last year, in 2016 the Michael Fennelly situation, I think people who are outside the bubble of those involved in the pursuit of an All-Ireland title realise the importance of having everything running smoothly.
“The whole Henry situation created a monster. The whole hype around it became a big deal. Meanwhile, up in Thurles things were tipping along nicely and smoothly.
"They were a very driven and hungry bunch of players. Tipp had honed in on their touch going into that final and their touch on the day was perfect.”
And still the margin was only a point when Corbett raised a second green flag in the 42nd minute, his strike after collecting Noel McGrath’s sublime reverse hand-pass unstinted by Tennyson’s flying hurley.
“That came from the vision Eamon O’Shea instilled in us all," Corbett says.
"There are not too many players who could have done what Noel did. Eamon had a totally different mindset to what I was used to from managers and selectors. Liam Sheedy and himself put so much trust in their players and that was new to me.”
A goalscorer against Cork, Brennan had still been taken off with a quarter of the game to go, which in those days translated as him having done something wrong or not done enough in Brian Cody’s eyes.
In the final, the then 30-year-old was scoreless until he was called ashore in the 51st minute.
“Personally, I didn’t but a lot of Kilkenny lads hurled really well. I’d say over the hour we hurled better than we did the year before.
"The year before, Tipperary dominated us but PJ Ryan had a day of days and when the chances came our way we were able to take them.
“We hit the post at the start of the second half when we were a point down and it fell to me and I couldn’t lift the ball. That was the end of me that day.
"I suppose I was trying to chase my form. When things aren’t working out, you can try too hard. I remember saying to myself coming into the year that ‘if we land this (the five-in-a-row) then that’s it.’
“I broke away with what was normally my mindset and that was a block of training from game to game and that’s what you lived for as opposed to looking too far ahead. You just softened up a percent.”
Even after Noel McGrath’s goal, Tipperary refused to believe the job was done as Richie Power fought valiantly.
After his sending off 12 months previously, Benny Dunne’s point to widen the gap to five in additional time had a redemption feel to it, and then Corbett completed the hat-trick, exhibiting that exquisite touch Brennan spoke about.
Yet his celebration was muted. “The year before, we had let ourselves believe for a second that we had won it and that was enough. We were afraid of our lives to do it again until the referee blew the final whistle and when that happened it was just relief.”
It was a day that poked the bear, mind. In the counties’ meetings in the following three championships, Kilkenny came out on top each time, including in 2012, when Corbett infamously tailed Tommy Walsh.
Brennan adds: “Brian summoned us all into the warm-up area afterwards. You had Henry over the corner on crutches fairly teary-eyed and a lot of us were the same.
"Brian said, ‘We have 12 months to rectify this and we will be back here. It’s whoever is willing to do what needs to be done will be back with us and whoever isn’t will move on. But be under no illusions that is where we’re going to be.’
"I actually thought the homecoming in 2010 was the biggest I was at because I think the supporters wanted to pick us up a bit and that struck a chord.”
Corbett still bemoans the departure of the management team a month after that victory.
“Tipperary became too used to starting from scratch with their management teams every January.
"I’m not one to make excuses but if you think of it as a business and you are beating the established competition down the road with the same managing director for so many years but then keep changing your own managing director it’s difficult.
"We underachieved in those few years that followed.”
Lar Corbett (3-0); Eoin Kelly (0-7, frees); Noel McGrath (1-0); John O’Brien, Brendan Maher, Seamus Callanan (0-2 each); Gearóid Ryan, Seamus Hennessy, Brendan Cummins (free), Benny Dunne (0-1 each).
Richie Power (1-9, 0-8 frees); TJ Reid (0-4, 1 sideline); Henry Shefflin (free), Michael Rice, Aidan Fogarty, Derek Lyng, John Mulhall (0-1 each).
Brendan Cummins; Paddy Stapleton, Paul Curran, Michael Cahill; Declan Fanning, Conor O’Mahony, Pádraic Maher; Brendan Maher, Shane McGrath; Gearóid Ryan, Patrick Maher, John O’Brien, Noel McGrath, Eoin Kelly (captain), Lar Corbett.
Conor O’Brien for O’Mahony, Seamus Callanan for John O’Brien (both 56); Benny Dunne for Shane McGrath (64); David Young for Declan Fanning (68); Seamus Hennessy for Brendan Maher (70).
Darren Gleeson, Pa Bourke, Jody Brennan, Darragh Egan, Timmy Hammersley, Michael Heffernan, Pat Kerwick, Shane Maher, Hugh Maloney, Brian O’Meara.
PJ Ryan; John Dalton, Noel Hickey, Jackie Tyrrell; Tommy Walsh, John Tennyson, JJ Delaney; James “Cha” Fitzpatrick, Michael Fennelly; TJ Reid (captain), Henry Shefflin, Eoin Larkin; Eddie Brennan, Richie Power, Aidan Fogarty.
: Michael Rice for Henry Shefflin (inj 12); Derek Lyng for James Fitzpatrick, Martin Comerford for Eddie Brennan (both 48); John Mulhall for TJ Reid, Richie Hogan for Aidan Fogarty (both 62).
David Herity, Michael Kavanagh, James Ryall, Paddy Hogan, Damien Fogarty, Canice Hickey, Seán Cummins, PJ Delaney, John Mulhall, Eoin Guinan, Richie O’Neill.
Michael Wadding (Waterford).
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