Corofin one step away from record-breaking eighth title
IT is the clash of the Titans as far as club football in Connacht is concerned as Corofin, with a five-in-row of Galway championships under their belt, take on a Castlebar Mitchels’ outfit who have completed a first ever three-in-a-row of Mayo titles.
This Connacht club senior football showdown in Tuam Stadium on Sunday (2pm) has a lot riding on it, from club and county pride, to the more tangible prize of getting a crack at the All-Ireland club title.
While the bookies have Corofin installed as favourites 8/15 as against 15/8 for Castlebar (draw, 15/2), there are few followers of the game in either Galway or Mayo who would assess this as anything other than a ‘down-the-line’ 50/50 contest.
Both sides are well battled hardened coming into this encounter with Corofin having survived an extra-time close call against Roscommon champions St. Brigid’s in the Connacht semi-final while they were also fortunate to survive the challenge of Annaghdown in the county semi-final.
Castlebar Mitchels had to go through three games in seven days to capture the Mayo crown including a tit-for-tat final showdown against Ballintubber, that the town side just about shaded, on a 0-15 to 0-13 scoreline.
The Mitchels didn’t have it their own way either in the provincial semi-final against Sligo champions Tourlestrane before a third-quarter goal from Danny Kirby swung the game their way on a 1-13 to 0-9 scoreline.
By any barometer, Castlebar Mitchels are a well-balanced side with a rich sprinkling of county and ex-county players who will be driven by the dream of All-Ireland club final glory, after falling twice at the last hurdle over recent years.
Ger McDonagh, Donie Newcombe, Eoghan O’Reilly and Paddy Durcan backbone a strong defence; Aidan Walsh and Barry Moran are a powerful midfield pair; while there’s no shortage of scoring power in attack with David Stenson, Danny Kirby and Neil Douglas all in fine form.
For more, see this week’s Connacht Tribune.