Tuam Stars come within a whisker of toppling champs
Tomás Keating at Tuam Stadium
TWO minutes into injury-time, Tuam’s talisman Jamie Murphy curled over a beautiful point off his left boot into the town goal to put the Stars two points up. The tension in Tuam Stadium was incredible as the Stars were on the brink of ending a 25 year famine, until Gary Sice showed that he has ice in his veins.
When the sides met in the quarter-finals in 2015, Tuam were leading by a point in injury-time, and Sice kicked an equaliser to force a replay. On that day, Sice’s effort was from play, but on Sunday, it was from a dead-ball, a contentious one. On the 63rd minute, Sice swing over a free to put the All-Ireland champions within a single point.
Referee Gearóid Ó Conámha allocated three minutes of injury-time, however, Tuam defender Rory O’Connor was down receiving attention in stoppage time, which meant Ó Conámha played extra time on top of it. Following Sice’s point, Corofin ‘keeper Bernard Power ran into midfield for the kickout, and Tuam ‘keeper Johnny Trayers put his kickout down the middle, Corofin’s Dylan McHugh caught the ball brilliantly and hand-passed into space for Michael Farragher to run into.
Between Farragher and the goal, was O’Connor, who ran towards the ball and collided with Farragher. It was very harsh on O’Connor as he had his eyes on the ball, but Ó Conámha blew the whistle for a free in. With 65 minutes on the clock, Sice converted to bring the match to a replay.
It was a game fit for the occasion. Not only was it county final day, but it was the official unveiling of The Tommy Varden Stand, a new 1600 seating terrace above the new dressing rooms. The 6,400 people who attended on Sunday, got bang for their buck. The club scene badly needed that. For the best few years, the county final has lacked excitement, as Corofin have put teams to the sword easily, but on Sunday, they were put to the pin of their collar.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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