Corofin men rally from poor start to book final spot

Corofin (Galway) 1-11Ballintubber (Mayo) 2-7

Declan Tierney at McHale Park

COROFIN football comes in many disguises. It can be defensively tedious and methodical resulting in low scoring games or it can be blitzkrieg stuff culminating in good open football or a mixture of both as they displayed at McHale Park, Castlebar when they eventually saw off the stubborn challenge posed by Mayo champions, Ballintubber.

No matter what, Corofin do not give their supporters an easy time of it. There were times when the recently crowned Galway champions looked a spent force, then took firm control before holding out for a one point victory in a match that had been reduced to a pedestrian pace.

It was a game of contrasting fortunes for Corofin in that they were six points behind after 11 minutes, but still retired at half-time with a four points advantage. In the end, they had to survive a failed goal effort from Ballintubber to stumble into the Connacht Club final against St. Brigid’s of Roscommon on Sunday week.

To the Galway title holders credit, they responded well from going so far behind at an early stage with their complete dominance of the game in the second quarter critical to the eventual outcome. 

It was completely different to their county final victory over Tuam Stars the previous week as Corofin looked slow and sluggish in the early stages. There were times when Ballintubber threatened to over-run them as they went four points to nothing up in the first 10 minutes.

Corofin were playing aimless balls out to the wings and were caught for pace on many occasions and when young Mayo ace, Cillian O’Connor netted from possession squandered by Damien Burke, the alarm bells started ringing in earnest . . . and with just cause.

The North Galway side were 1-4 to 0-1 down at this point – Alan O’Donovan pointing from a free – and they looked in dire trouble but their transformation was as amazing as it was lethal.

Corofin were back playing direct football, using their midfield dominance to their benefit and popping scores over to reduce the deficit. An O’Donovan free after Damien Burke was fouled started the ball rolling and this was followed by a move involving the hugely influential Daithi Burke and Kieran Comer before Gary Sice neatly slotted over from play.

This was the Corofin that made it one of the most memorable county finals in years and now they were displaying their immense attacking talents in the home of Mayo football as Michael Lundy and Alan O’Donovan eventually equalised – despite this pair and Michael Comer having missed scoring opportunities earlier.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.