Corofin just keep on winning as club football immortality awaits
Inside Track with John McIntyre
NEMO Rangers were proud of their Scrooge-like defence ahead of Saturday’s All-Ireland club senior football semi-final in Ennis. The famed Cork club hadn’t conceded a goal in their previous six championship outings and also had revenge on their minds on their trek to Banner country.
Their focus on rearguard security was the legacy of being repeatedly ransacked by Corofin in the All-Ireland final in March of 2018. Nemo Rangers lost by 2-19 to 0-10 on that chastening afternoon at Croke Park and the scale of that beating was an affront to the club’s great tradition.
It took them a while to recover from that mauling – the rest of 2018 was a write off – but they regained supremacy in Cork last year before adding provincial honours. It set them up for another battle with Corofin, only this time they were forewarned about what to expect. It made no difference.
For all the work Nemo had done in tightening up their back division, it had yet to be road tested against a team of Corofin’s calibre. Within 33 seconds of the semi-final kicking off, they were rocked after the All-Ireland champions breached their lines with a goal of the highest quality.
Corofin’s accurate kick passing has always been a cornerstone of their ongoing dominance of club football. Their movement, angles of running and support lines are other key constituents of this now remarkable 35-match unbeaten run. And all those characteristics were in evidence as Nemo were ripped apart in the opening minute.
It must have proven the Cork team’s worst nightmare as inch-perfect deliveries from the tireless Gary Sice and the impressive Martin Farragher exposed their cover to set up Micheál Lundy for a superbly crafted goal. And it was no coincidence that it took Rangers over 24 minutes to register their first score after that shocking start.
In between, Corofin pushed further clear. They were the ones dictating the tempo and with Nemo sloppy in possession, the reigning champions tagged on points from Jason Leonard (’45), the excellent Ronan Steede, Martin Farragher and a Sice free to establish a 1-4 to no score advantage. In reality, the outcome was done and dusted as Corofin are not in the habit of losing substantial leads.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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