Killererin come up trumps in county final

Date Published: 19-Oct-2010

Killererin 1-10

Corofin 1-7

FRANK FARRAGHER

AT PEARSE STADIUM

THE village might be small but the hunger and the footballing hearts are very big down Barnaderg way – at Pearse Stadium on Sunday, the sporting Gods were suitably enraptured with Killererin’s mix of parish pride, innate forward talent and a penchant for delivering on the big day, rewarding their bravado with a sixth senior title.

There were no ifs or buts about this Killererin senior football championship victory – indeed on the balance of the hour’s play they should have won this match by five or six points – as they completely outgunned Corofin in terms of sheer desire to win and in attacking know-how.

Corofin had that look of vulnerability about them all year but there was a reasonable expectation that they would raise their game in a bid to win a three-in-a-row of county titles for the first time – instead, apart from one notable second half flicker, they were always chasing this match.Killererin were rock solid in defence, dominant for long periods at midfield, and far more potent looking up front than a Corofin side lacking the freshness, drive and vigour that fuels a team on county final day.

The reason Killererin didn’t win this match a lot more decisively lay in the fact that they were caught for a sucker punch first half goal after a period of play when they probably should have rattled the Corofin net on at least one occasion, but Tommie Joyce’s charges responded magnificently to that moment of first half adversity.

The Corofin celebrations which followed Michael Farragher’s 26th minute goal had barely subsided when Nicky Joyce rose majestically above two Corofin backs to ‘bury’ a Ger Butler cross in the back of David Morris’ net. In its own way, the score told the tale of the match – Joyce was singleminded and decisive in his punch as two Corofin backs failed to attack the ball.

Once more though, before they reached their Holy Grail of a sixth county senior title, the character of the Killererin team was tested in the 13 minute spell after half-time when Corofin delivered their only concerted period of energetic and focused play.