Revitalised Corofin make no mistake in a one-sided replay

COROFIN 1-15CLAREGALWAY 1-10

FRANK FARRAGHER  AT TUAM STADIUM

W.C. Fields had a legendary quote about never giving a sucker an even break and that ‘one liner’ might resonate with the footballers of Claregalway after being chucked out of the second chance saloon by Corofin in this quarter-final replay at Tuam Stadium on Saturday evening.

Most of the club mentors in North Galway who have served their apprenticeship up through the ranks will know that you normally only get one chance to beat Corofin . . . grab it with both hands the first day or else face the consequences in the replay.

Claregalway came tantalisingly close to ending Corofin’s involvement in the 2011 senior championship in the drawn match but this time round, all the good first touches, all of the hunger and all of the cunning came from one team.

There’s a lot of pride out Corofin way in their football, and that honour was somewhat sullied by talk of them being a spent force in the Galway championship after their earlier struggles to overcome Barna, followed by the draw against Claregalway. Since then though, they regrouped and rediscovered a cutting edge that seemed to have been dulled for the past 18 months or so.

Corofin only once trailed in this match to a third minute Enda O’Connell point, but once Michael Lundy (2), Gary Sice, Michael Comer and Alan O’Donovan had edged them 5-3 ahead by the start of the second quarter, the outcome was seldom in doubt after that.

If there was one striking difference between the sides it was in the mobility stakes. Corofin opted for pace over experience from the drawn match with Cathal Silke and Gary Delaney coming in for Aidan Donnellan and Joe Canney – over the hour, Brian Silke’s side never stopped moving. Claregalway could just never pin them down.

Corofin’s quick movement of players and ball helped to minimise the impact of Barry Cullinane at midfield, who ruled the roost between the 45s in the drawn match, with full back and captain Kieran Fitzgerald often charging into attack at different stages of the match.

Claregalway found it difficult to keep track of the Corofin ‘Flying Column’, and even from the stand, it was hard at times to map their formation – the winners set themselves up as a continuously moving target and it proved to be a very effective tactic.

Things might have been a bit different early on had an Enda O’Connell flick not missed the goal target by a matter of inches, but after that, there was to be little by way of serious threat to a Corofin defence extremely well marshalled by Fitzgerald, Gary Delaney and Alan Burke.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.