No Five In A Row For The Cats As Tipp Crowned Champions

GAA Hurling All Ireland Senior Championship 2010 Final: Kilkenny 1-18 Tipperary 4-17

Tipperary are the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior champions. Kilkenny's five-in-a-row was not to be, as three Lar Corbett goals gave the Premier men their first All-Ireland title since 2001. They won another epic contest on a 4-17 to 1-18 scoreline.

Leading by 1-10 to 1-9 at the break after Richie Power had given the off colour Cats a shot in the arm with a goal in the 33rd minute, Tipp hit two goals in as many minutes in the third quarter to deny the champions their chance to stand alone as the greatest team ever in the history of the GAA. Corbett added his third goal - his side's fourth - in junk time to complete a comprehensive win.

The portents were not good for the holders from the off, as they lost their leader, Henry Shefflin, to the knee injury that appeared to have ruined his chances of featuring in the game. In hindsight, it looked like a costly error to start the Ballyhale man. His exit came three minutes after Corbett had scored the opening goal of the game, beating Noel Hickey to a high ball and slamming past PJ Ryan.

The weight of history appeared to be too much of a burden for the champions. Their performance failed to live up to the incredible standards they have set throughout their four-year monopoly of the Liam MacCarthy Cup. They faced an irresistible Tipperary side, who clearly used last year's heartache as the catalyst for one of the finest displays seen at GAA Headquarters in an All-Ireland final. It rounded off their season perfectly, having started their Championship campaign with a humiliating Munster Championship defeat to Cork.

Having lost the final in such cruel circumstances last year, it was a cathartic day for the Premier County. The outpouring of emotions at the final whistle proved as much.

Again, Corbett was the Tipp hero, but it was an irresistible team performance, with Paul Curran outstanding on the edge of the square, Pádraic Maher cleaning up in the half-back line and captain Eoin Kelly chipping in with seven points from frees. The Tipp defence, in particular, performed incredibly, denying the Kilkenny attack the space they have thrived on throughout their 21-game unbeaten run.

Kilkenny struggled at times but managed to claw their way back into the game in the final quarter and cut the gap to three points with 12 minutes left on the clock, but it was Tipperary who finished on top, hitting three successive scores to extend their lead. Substitute Séamus Callanan hit two points from play after coming on; his presence in the half-forwards proved a crucial steadying influence in the closing stages. Some of manager Liam Sheedy's switches were inspired as subs Benny Dunne and Seamus Hennessy scored points in injury time, before Corbett rounded off a dream day by snaffling another goal.

It was a frenzied, frantic opening in which the opening four points came from frees. Players crashed into each other like out of control bumper cars, as Tipperary showed their determination to live with the Cats' notorious physicality. It worked.

Kelly struck three of those placed balls for the Premier men, who started the game in just the manner they would envisioned. It was a difficult start for the Cats, as 'miracle' man Shefflin looked tentative over an early free, which he sent badly wide. He did get off the mark in the fifth minute, leveling the game after Kelly had opened the scoring.

Tipperary's forward line continued their tactic of rotating between the '40 and the inside forward line, and when Shane McGrath drove a long ball into the square in the 10th minute, it was Corbett who was lurking. The Thurles Sarsfields man stuck a paw in the leaden sky, beating Hickey, and turned, driving past PJ Ryan for a 1-3 to 0-1 lead.

The Cats looked out of sorts, and that sense was underlined when TJ Reid was played through on goal and sent a tame shot straight at Brendan Cummins, never really threatening the Tipp goal.

Disaster struck for the five-in-a-row chasers in the 13th minute. Shefflin had looked distinctly uncomfortable in the opening stages, and when he crumpled in a heap under the Cusack Stand, the game was up for the Ballyhale man. It was an unfortunate way for his day to end and a crushing blow to see one of the greatest hurlers of all time limp out of a second All-Ireland final in four years.

To their credit, Kilkenny responded well, scoring two points in succession to cut the gap to two. Richie Power, who had taken over the free-taking duties from Shefflin, scored from a place ball while Aidan Fogarty won a breaking ball to fire over.

A scoring burst just before the break, inspired by a monster free from goalkeeper Brendan Cummins, appeared to leave Tipp in the driving seat, but a trademark Kilkenny goal changed the complexion of the game at the break. Eddie Brennan tore through the Tipp defence and laid the ball off for Power, who smashed the ball home. Power added two points and the gap was cut to the minimum at the break.

Tipp's second goal came seven minutes after the restart. It was a beauty. Gearóid Ryan drove a low ball into Noel McGrath, who executed a perfect reverse flick to Corbett and the Tipp goal machine did the rest. Incredibly, they found another a minute later, as McGrath pounced on a breaking ball in the square to prod home at the second attempt.

Again, Kilkenny came back. Four points in a row brought them right back into the game. Power was on target with a pair of frees before TJ Reid, who finished with four points, and Derek Lyng cut the gap back to three.

Sheedy then played a trump card in bringing on Callanan. He landed two points from play almost immediately. Two more subs, Dunne and Seamus Hennessy, nudged them closer to the line, before Corbett struck again at the death.