Salthill/Knocknacarra surrender county title in meek fashion

The city men were never at the races and looked a shadow of team that claimed the title 12 months ago. The final scoreline of Corofin 2-13 to 0-7 says it all and the winners were every bit as convincing as the 12 point victory margin suggests.

Nobody took any deal of pleasure in seeing Salthill/Knocknacarra buckle so easily, and the neutrals in the crowd of about 4,500 were heading for the gates early in what was one of the most lopsided county finals in recent years.

Corofin’s rapid pace combined with a ruthless streak early on simply blew away Salthill/Knocknacarra. Before they caught breath, the title holders found themselves 1-7 to 0-2 behind after just 18 minutes.

Corofin wing-forward Gary Sice, the best player on show, was on fire in that opening blitz of Salthill/Knocknacarra. The Galway star was twice fouled for a penalty, the first was sent wide by Gary Delaney; the second, a real killer blow, was slotted home by Kieran Comer.

Corner-forward Joe Canney was causing all sorts of bother, too, laying-off to wing half-backs and midfielders driving forward.

Salthill/Knocknacarra had no answer to Corofin’s relentless running style of play, pouring forward in wave after wave of attack with Ronan Steede, Greg Higgins, Kieran Comer and Mike Farragher all prominent as well. 

When substitutes Derek O’Flaherty and Conor Treacy were introduced they both helped to shore up the Salthill/Knocknacarra defence that was under sustained bombardment; but they offered only temporary respite. 

For the last 12 minutes of the half, Salthill/Knocknacarra were in the ascendancy as John Boylan, Finian Hanley, David Tierney and Seán Armstrong put in resistance – they held Corofin scoreless and narrowed the gap to 1-7 to 0-5 at the break but they needed to have converted a couple of the wides they shot in that period to pile on the pressure.

Corofin aren’t known for relinquishing leads but if they were to get caught by a comeback, Salthill/Knocknacarra needed to draw first blood after the interval. They didn’t. Instead Corofin landed 1-1 inside two minutes after resuming play with Gary Sice, prominent in both scores, setting up midfielder Ronan Steede for a point and finishing to the net, a fine move involving Mike Farragher. Game over.

That left it 2-8 to 0-5, and the remainder of the half, all 28 minutes of it, was immaterial.  Corofin kept Salthill/Knocknacarra scoreless for over 20 minutes of the rest of the half  while keeping their own score ticking over to run out emphatic victors after a dominant display.

Corofin now have a few weeks’ break before they face the Mayo champions in the Connacht club championship at Tuam Stadium on Sunday, November 10.

In the earlier final, Moycullen bridged a gap of 40 years to secure the minor A title beating Claregalway in an entertaining curtain-raiser. The final score was Moycullen 2-6 Claregalway 1-6.

Read Frank Farragher’s match report in this week’s Connacht Sentinel.