Corbett injury a blow to Tipperary's preparations

Gaelic Games: Tipperary hurling manager Ken Hogan will have to plan without forward Lar Corbett for their Munster semi-final against Waterford on June 6th. The Thurles Sarsfields player fractured his ankle at a team training session on Saturday morning. Tipperary played a challenge game against Laois on Sunday and Corbett had been selected to start that game at full forward.

The game, which Tipperary won on a scoreline of 4-12 to 2-10, was overshadowed by Corbett's injury.

"It is very disappointing for both Lar and the team," said Ed Donnelly, the county PRO, yesterday.

"He is definitely out for the Waterford game and the reality is he will not be back for the game after that either. It will probably take a minimum of five or six weeks to heal again and obviously, Lar will be out of the game for that period so he will miss a fair bit of training."

Corbett, a lean and sharp attacker who has acquired a reputation for goal scoring since breaking into the Tipperary team, was among those fighting for a place in Hogan's summer team. He started the league season as a substitute against Offaly and also came off the bench during the 2-21 to 1-12 defeat of Limerick a week later.

He scored 2-1 in his first start of the season, the routing of Wexford, but did not feature against Cork. But he was still very much in the reckoning for a starting place against Waterford.

"He is hobbling around on crutches at the moment and he is in very good spirits, considering," said Donnelly.

"I think he just accepts these things happen in the game and he is dealing with it and is determined to work towards fitness again and to play some part in Tipperary's championship. Roughly speaking, this will probably set him back about two months.

"Obviously it all depends on how the team goes in his absence but hopefully, we will see Lar back this summer."

If Tipperary win against Waterford, they will play the Munster final on June 27th. If they lose, they will play in the qualifiers. Corbett's injury extends Tipperary's run of championship bad luck: they lost full back Philly Maher prior to last year's campaign, which he missed entirely.

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