Corofin cruise past Monivea Abbey in Galway SFC quarter-final
COROFIN cruised past Monivea Abbey to book their place in the Galway Senior Football Championship semi-final with a 0-15 to 1-9 victory at Tuam Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Breezy conditions in Tuam meant the wind was always likely to play a significant role, with the men in yellow and green making full use of it in the opening half to establish an eight-point advantage.
Corofin kicked four two-pointers in the first half as they took control of the contest, leading 0-10 to 0-2 at the interval. Monivea Abbey were dealt two significant blows before throw-in, with Cillian McDaid missing out through a hamstring injury and Cian Dolan also sidelined with an ankle injury.
Two-pointers from Darragh Silke and Dylan McHugh, along with two doubles from Jason Leonard and a single from Silke, helped Corofin establish a commanding nine point lead inside the opening 17 minutes.
Jack McCabe extended their advantage to ten points on 21 minutes, but Monivea Abbey responded with a brief spell of pressure. Darragh Burke and Brian Moran registered points to give their side a glimmer of hope ahead of the second half, when they would have the benefit of the breeze.
Corofin were guilty of forcing their two-point attempts at times in the opening period and were left to rue several missed opportunities.
However, Monivea Abbey struggled to capitalise on the strong breeze after the restart as Corofin continued to add to their tally. Points from McCabe, two efforts from Ross Coen and a two-point free from Silke saw the 2024 county champions move 0-15 to 0-2 clear, leaving them firmly in control with nine minutes remaining.
Monivea Abbey's Glenn Kelly, one of their key dead-ball specialists, was left to rue a number of missed opportunities from placed balls throughout the contest.
Peter Maher’s side refused to throw in the towel, though, and eventually found the net. Kelly worked a free short to Trevor Mullins, whose initial effort was blocked. Mullins followed up on the rebound and, despite coming under pressure from the Corofin defence, managed to get his shot away and beat Corofin goalkeeper Dylan Canney.
Two-pointers in quick succession from Kelly and Lee Kenny offered Monivea Abbey a late lifeline, but they had left themselves with too much to do as Corofin secured a six-point victory.
Corofin defender Liam Silke kept Monivea Abbey sharpshooter Glenn Kelly scoreless from play, while Ross Coen's driving runs provided plenty of energy going forward. Jason Leonard and Darragh Silke also made significant contributions, combining for 0-9.
For Gary Delaney and his management team, the immediate objective of reaching the semi-final has been achieved, but they will know that a significant improvement is required ahead of their last-four clash with Salthill Knocknacarra in two weeks' time. They will also be hoping to have Patrick Egan available after the defender missed the quarter-final through injury.
“We are happy to be there (in a semi-final) but I suppose if we don’t improve things won’t change in the semi-final this year. We wouldn’t be happy with the second half or the first half as regards to score conversion, we are back there but we have a lot of work to do,” said Corofin wing forward Jason Leonard.
COROFIN: D Canney; C Silke, L Silke, B Coen; D McHugh (0-2, tp), V Gill, D Wall; C Brady, K Molloy; R Coen (0-2), D Silke (0-5, tpf, tp), J Leonard (0-4, 2tp); K Joyce, J McCabe (0-2, 0-2f), M Lundy. SUBS: C Cunningham for Cathal Silke (49), R Steede for Joyce (54), M Farragher for Lundy (56), S Canavan for McCabe (56).
MONIVEA ABBEY: D Farragher; K O’Reilly, J Burke, C Mannion; L Ryan, C Cooley, C Maher; T Mullins (1-0), D Burke (0-1); S King, G Kelly (0-2, tpf), L Kenny (0-2, tp); B Moran (0-1), A Ryan, N Mannion. SUBS: P Mullins for King (42), J Collins for Moran (56), R Maloney for Maher (56).
REFEREE: Anthony Coyne (Milltown)