Inside Track with John McIntyre

A club team stacked with inter-county players is no guarantee of success. Just ask the Salthilll/Knocknacarra footballers for confirmation after their capitulation to Corofin in the Galway senior semi-final at Tuam Stadium last Sunday.

After being unlucky losers to Maigh Cuillin during the late John O’Mahony’s first season in charge in 2022, it appeared only a matter of time before the Seasiders would get their hands on the Frank Fox Cup for a fourth time, but it hasn’t worked out that way and the manner of their weekend trimming is bound to leave some scars.

With John Maher, Daniel O’Flaherty, Tomo Culhane, Cathal Sweeeny and Rob Finerty – admittedly, still not fully fit –  in their ranks, a third of the Salthill team have experience at the highest level but it didn’t save them from a humbling 1-11 loss to Corofin in a poor game.

Salthill have a horrible record against the former multiple All-Ireland club champions – this was their ninth consecutive loss over nearly two decades – which made the decision to face the elements in the opening half last Sunday even more baffling.

Whatever chance a team has of overcoming Corofin when establishing an early lead, they have basically none when falling behind. That’s what happened to Salthill at Galway football’s spiritual home. Five points down after only 14 minutes despite defending in big numbers, you already knew they were a beaten docket.

The challengers only managed a solitary Finnerty point in over 30 minutes of footballers which was a telling indictment of their performance. In contrast, Corofin had shot out of the blocks with Jason Leonard, Jack McCabe, Dylan Canney, Gary Sice and Dylan Wall all helping to establish that significant early advantage.

Surprisingly, Corofin would add only one point to their tally before half-time – another Sice free – and it left the door slightly ajar for a Salthill rally if they were good enough or, more precisely, possessed the necessary belief to make a contest of it. On both fronts, they were found wanting.

An early second half black card for sub Mark Mannion only added to Salthill’s woes and though Finnerty had a couple of points, there was never the slightest possibility of Corofin being caught. Sice, Canney and Dylan McHugh added to their tally before a foul on Liam Silke led to Canney blasting home a late penalty.

Pictured: Salthill/Knocknacarra’s John Maher gets to the ball ahead of Corofin’s Michael Farragher during Sunday’s senior football semi-final at Tuam Stadium.