Barna-Furbo 2-11

St Michael’sm1-7

By STEPHEN GLENNON AT TUAM STADIUM

TWO early goals from Darragh Costello – and the dead ball accuracy of Tom Curran – were two central pillars in aiding Barna-Furbo secure victory over St Michaels in this SFC Relegation Final at Tuam Stadium on Saturday.

In the end, Barna-Furbo did what they had to, with this victory framed by those two first-half Costello goals and six points from frees from Curran. The scaffolding was provided by Galway duo Sean Fitzgerald and Cian Hernon.

For their part, St Michael’s can have no qualms, given they were rudderless for the best part of the 60 minutes. It all summed up what has been a lacklustre and winless 2025 campaign for the city outfit.

Overall, though, the standard of this fixture was poor. The contest started in whirlwind fashion as Barna-Furbo led 2-3 to 1-1 after 12 minutes, but over the remainder of the first half, there was just one more point scored – that from the victors’ Donnacha Forde – making this a painful watch for neutrals.

The fare did improve marginally in the second period, with St Michael’s narrowing the deficit to a single score – 2-6 to 1-6 – by the three-quarter mark, but Barna-Furbo roused themselves again coming down the home stretch by outscoring their West Board opponents by five points to one.

Those scores came from the trusty Tom Curran, a single and double from free kicks, Dan McComiskey, and substitute Luan O’Shea between the 49th and 56th minutes and, in truth, this exemplified the difference in class between these two sides.

Results show that St Michael’s have been out of their depth at senior level this year and, again on this display, you could see why. Their transitioning from defence to attack was laboured, with the lack of movement up front in creating space and channels a contributing factor.

This was evident in the first half. Having dispatched a fourth minute penalty through Gary Higgins, following a foul on Conal Gallagher, they kicked just one more score in the opening period – that a Higgins free.

Pictured: Donal McComiskey of Bearna na Forbacha is about to be challenged by Gary Higgins of St Michael’s during Saturday’s Senior Football Relegation Final at Tuam Stadium. Photos: David Cunniffe.