Eamonn Corcoran quietly confident that Tipperary can repeat 2001 All-Ireland semi-final victory

He played on the Tipperary team that beat Wexford the last time the counties met in an All-Ireland Senior Hurling semi-final 18 years ago, and he’s confident that the current Tipp team can repeat that result when the counties renew rivalry at the same stage of the championship on Sunday.

Eamonn Corcoran is also convinced that if Tipperary get over the line and do well on Sunday, they will be “there or thereabouts” when it comes to winning the All-Ireland title.

Although he says it will be anything but easy against Wexford, he’s still quite confident that this bunch of players can get back to the heights they scaled in the group stage of the Munster championship, and that they can “get the timing right”.

“The team has so much hurling in them and so much potential that they can get back. A lot of these lads have won All-Irelands and know what’s expected of them”, he says.

He admits that he didn’t know where Tipp stood after the National League, when their involvement was ended with a quarter-final defeat by Dublin, and he was wondering what was left in the team.

But the players were “buzzing” in the Munster championship round robin and their confidence meant they were trying things they would hardly even try while training for their clubs. 

By the same token, however, he’s also worried about the manner in which Limerick beat them in the Munster Final.

“Limerick suffocated us and got into our faces. We had only two or three players hitting the heights, whereas in most matches you could have two or three players who wouldn’t perform.

“We gave a flat performance in the first half and the game was gone in the last 10-15 minutes, I wouldn’t read too much into what happened in that phase of the match”.

However he’s concerned that their form has dipped, and thinks the Munster Final “took more out of the players psychologically than anything else”.

While he has huge respect for Wexford, he says their semi-final opposition doesn’t represent “the worst draw ever”.

“I wouldn’t fancy meeting Kilkenny or Limerick at this stage, Kilkenny in particular seem to be timing this better than any other team”.

The JK Brackens man is hopeful that Tipperary got the hangover from that defeat by Limerick out of their system against Laois. And although he accepts it’s not always the most reliable guide, he believes that on paper Tipp have a stronger unit than Wexford.

Above - Eamonn Corcoran about to clear a dangerous situation during the 2001 All-Ireland semi-final against Wexford

“We all know that Wexford will try and smother us from the forwards back, and try and catch us on the break. But players such as Padraic Maher, Ronan Maher and Noel McGrath are capable of hitting points from distance, and if the forwards can click and the team strikes form then I can’t see Wexford beating us.

“We have seen pockets of their brilliance and John McGrath, John O’Dwyer and Seamus Callanan have picked up man of the match awards,although we haven’t seen it all coming together yet.

“But I still see something in this bunch of players”, he says.

As regards Wexford, Eamonn Corcoran makes the point that “they love their hurling down there”. He says it’s good for the game to see them back at hurling’s top table again and he marvelled at the way their supporters enjoyed and celebrated the Leinster Final win over Kilkenny.

“In fairness to Davy Fitzgerald, like him or hate him, he does bring something to a team. He knows his style, people may criticise it, but the players have backed him and his style of play 100%. You could see the way the players embraced him after the Leinster final.

“He brings passion to the set-up too and although we may not all like it, his style is working. It’s starting to really come together and that’s a worry for us”.

He says that the quarter-final against Laois was “a lose-lose” situation for Tipp, no matter if they won by 3 or 30 points. 

But he warns they’ll come up against a completely different team in the semi-final.         

Eamonn Corcoran played under current boss Liam Sheedy during his first stint in charge, when the flame-haired wing-back won his third National League and second Munster championship medals in 2008 before announcing his retirement the following year, after almost ten years in the blue and gold jersey.

When asked about Sheedy’s approach, he says “it’s his people-management more than anything else. When Liam walks into a room you get that sense of energy from him. He’s a bubbly kind of guy and he’ll bring standards as high as he wants to bring them.

“He also surrounds himself with the best of the best, whether that’s a goalkeeping coach, selectors and fitness coach, and he’ll lead from the front.

“He will tell you what he expects and he challenges hard. But he can also put an arm around the shoulder and pat you on the back and he gets the balance right.

“I was only with him, Mick Ryan and Eamon O’Shea for one year and you could see they were building and creating something, and we saw that in 2010”.

He said that after the disappointment of last year, Tipp probably needed a lift and he was delighted when Liam Sheedy returned to the fold.

However Eamonn Corcoran is also disappointed that there’s still an amount of negativity around the team.

“We’re a critical county, it’s just our nature, I suppose”, he remarks, while hoping that Tipp supporters will now get firmly behind the manager and the team ahead of the big game this weekend.

Above - Current Tipperary coach Tommy Dunne in action against Wexford the last time the counties met in an All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship semi-final, in 2001. Tipp won after a replay Picture: John Kelly

It took Eamonn Corcoran and the Tipp team two games to overcome Wexford in the All-Ireland semi-final of 2001.

“The first day we went into the game as favourites and we had huge momentum behind us, having won the National League and Munster championship. Most of us were new to the set-up and and we were taking the slaps on the back, believing the hype.

“However a lot of us didn’t play well and Nicky (English, the manager) had a right cut at us afterwards.

“Larry O’Gorman got a goal near the end and if the game went on another minute or two we would have been in trouble. We were on the ropes”.

That game ended in a 3-10 to 1-16 draw, before Tipperary comfortably won the replay 3-12 to 0-10 six days later on a very wet Saturday in Croke Park.

“Eugene O’Neill came on and scored two goals. Unfortunately, Brian O’Meara was sent off and that left a sour taste. 

“We were delighted to have reached the final but nobody was in the mood to celebrate too much because we were a very tight bunch and we knew that Brian would miss the final. Brian O’Meara was a player that everyone looked up to”.

Tipp went on to beat Galway in the final and Eamonn Corcoran, a stylish wing back and great servant of his county, rounded off the year in the best possible fashion by being selected for an All Star award.  

For more about Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final read  Tipperary must rediscover the magic formula against Wexford