Champs Corofin get the job done without firing on all their cylinders

Killannin 1- 7

Mike Rafferty at Pearse Stadium

TWO teams at different stages of their footballing development chased an elusive spot in the Senior Football championship semi-final at Pearse Stadium on Sunday afternoon and after an engaging hour's action it was Corofin who were never headed, emerging worthy winners.

Of course, they are the defending champions with an experienced line up that have been around the block for some time, while in contrast Killannin are more in the development stage as the majority of their side were playing for their U-19 championship winning team of last year. For one side, confidence is a given after years of success, while the other is striving to instill similar belief that might help them win the big games like this.

It was Corofin who laid down the early markers as they built up a five point advantage, but they were never allowed to pull away as Killannin hung in there as the gap fluctuated between one and five points for the duration of the game. As usual, Corofin always just seemed to do enough to get themselves over the line but they had to withstand a late onslaught as Killannin went chasing the deficit.

Matters started so differently as an opening minute goal gave Kevin Johnson's side the perfect start as they attacked from the throw in, with Dylan Cunney at the end of a long handpassing chain to sidefoot the ball to the net. With the considerable wind at their backs, Corofin would have been expected to push on, but with Killannin dropping deep and the usual lateral play slowing everything down, scores were hard to find.

Twelve minutes after their initial goal, Corofin got their next score when Jack McCabe pointed after he gathered a rebound when a Gary Sice free came back off a post. McCabe was to collect their next score to when a Killannin attack broke down and a swift counter attack had the potential for a goal as James Walsh was out in midfield, but after working their way through the channels a McCabe score was the reward as they led by five after 15 minutes.

For that opening quarter, Killannin saw very little attacking ball. Ryan Folan, the goal hero against St James’ in the previous round was out in the half forward line scrambling for occasional rare possession, while Kento O'Connor and Luke Carr were doing likewise.

Pictured: Patrick Egan of Corofin and Killannin's Ryan Roche grappling for possession during Sunday's senior football quarter-final at Pearse Stadium. Photos: Joe O'Shaughnessy.