COROFIN 2-13
ST BRIGID’S 0-5
TYPHOON Corofin blew into Páirc Seán MacDiarmada last Sunday and left a trail of destruction in her wake, in the process blowing away without trace, the footballing citadel of St. Brigid’s in this one-sided Connacht Club senior final.
Corofin might have rendezvoused with fate and fortune to overcome the challenge of Castlebar in the semi-final but this time around there was nothing left to chance as they delivered quite an exhilarating display of football.
Pace – both in the legs and in the delivery of the ball – tore asunder the defensive heart of a St. Brigid’s side who had come into this tie with impressive enough looking credentials, as well as a 100% record against the men of Corofin.
Seven minutes before half-time when Gary Sice dissected the Brigid’s posts following another razor-sharp move, Corofin had swept into a 1-8 to 0-2 lead and by then the de facto business of the day had been concluded.
So why did an encounter with so many pre-match predictions of a tight battle to ensue, end up being one of the most lob-sided provincial deciders for many’s the year.
Corofin were obviously highly motivated for the match and they undoubtedly benefited from the super-competitive test against Castlebar in the semi-final, but primarily it was their speed of movement and thought that completed flattened the Brigid’s challenge.
The Galway champions led by 0-4 to 0-0 after eight minutes thanks to four classic points from Michael Farragher (2), Dylan Wall and Ian Burke but the advantage could have been an awful lot more.
A Farragher hand-pass was intercepted at the last instant by a Brigid’s defender in a move that had goal written all over it before Gary Sice blazed another shot low across the face of Shane Mannion’s goal.
By then, St. Brigid’s were reeling in the face of the Corofin onslaught but when they managed to steady the ship with two points from wing forward Eoin Sheehy and a Karol Mannion free, for a few fleeting moments, they appeared to be in genuine contention.
All those Roscommon hopes were shattered in the 12th minute when the slickest of Corofin moves ended with Michael Farragher smashing the ball to the net after Gary Sice, Ian Burke and Liam Silke had been involved in the creation.
Full coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune
