Champs show no mercy in pursuit of the four-in-a-row

MOUNTBELLEW-MOYLOUGH 1-11

THE worrying aspect of this county senior football semi-final for all zones outside of Corofin was that Mountbellew played quite well for extended periods and yet found themselves decisively beaten in the end.

Corofin continue to be the slickest operation in town by a fair distance. For a good chunk of the first half on Sunday, Mountbellew matched them point for point and yet by the interval, they were four behind while 10 minutes into the second half, the game was virtually over as a contest.

Pace in two guises is at the heart of the Corofin success story. There’s a mobility right through the team that’s hugely difficult to stymie and secondly they move the ball at rapid pace – more often than not, the opposition just don’t get the chance to deliver any physical hits.

While the match might have been drained of its competitive sap going into the last quarter, it still provided many quality passages of football, with some exceptional scores from play delivered by both sides.

The flow of the match was also helped by the fact that referee Gearóid Ó Conámha didn’t blow for every trivial physical contact – a little bit of reasonable restraint on the whistle can add immeasurably to the entertainment rating of a footballing contest.

There was a marked similarity in both the content and the scoreline of this match to last year’s county final meeting between the sides that ended in a 3-13 to 0-12 victory for Corofin.

This time around, Mountbellew-Moylough again adopted a sensibly cautious first half approach with Colm Colleran dropping back into defence as the extra man but in the third quarter, when the losers had to chase the game, Corofin destroyed them.

Seven minutes into the second half, Mike Farragher and Ian Burke had the most seamless of build-ups to set up Gary Sice for a close range goal that effectively sealed the outcome of the match, putting the county champions into a 1-10 to 0-7 lead.

Another razor sharp Corofin attacking move just after the midway point of the half ended with Sice hand-passing the ball into the path of Ian Burke who had the simplest of palmed finishes to administer.

Just over a minute later, when Justin Leonard fired home Corofin’s third goal, to put them 3-11 to 0-7 ahead, one feared that Mountbellew-Moylough could be about to endure a serious beating.

However full credit to the side managed by James Foran and Martin Boyle, as against all the odds, they put in the most spirited of finishes highlighted by a classic goal strike from Stephen Boyle in the 49th minute.

Barry McHugh – a constant threat at full forward over the hour – kicked a few good points while full back David Hogan also stormed upfield to find the target, ensuring that the club lost no pride or honour in the defeat.

Along the way though – like so many other teams across the county – they had fallen victim to the slickness of a Corofin footballing machine that shows no signs of losing power.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.