Corofin 2-6

Claregalway 0-8

By Gerard Mulreaney at Tuam Stadium

A week on from winning the senior club Gaelic football title, Corofin added the U-19 A North Board title to their trophy cabinet following a come-from-behind victory over Claregalway in Tuam Stadium.

Five points behind with 20 minutes to go, they stormed back to outscore their opponents 1-4 to 0-1 to seal the win, and will now go on to play West Board champions Killannin in the county final.

Playing with the aid of a pretty strong breeze in the first-half, Claregalway seized the early initiative and opened up a three-point lead after 11 minutes, with two points from Jack Mullen and a point from Eoin Morgan.

Corofin, who found the early going tough, scored their first point in the 14th minute when Gavin Kelly tapped over a free of his own. Corofin coughed up several early turnovers, but they weren’t proving too costly. However, both sides were guilty of some poor shooting, with numerous efforts dropping short.

Another free from Kelly reduced the gap to a single score, before two more frees from Mullen and a point from Rian Concannon left Claregalway with a 0-6 to 0-2 lead at half-time.

The lead was extended to five points 10 minutes into the second-half, with scores very much at a premium.

A black card issued to Eoin Morgan on 41 minutes proved decisive, as Corofin came storming back, and came from five points down to level the scores in that 10-minute period.

A Kelly free was followed by the game’s first goal in the 49th minute. A cross-field pass from Shane Canavan found Vinny Gill down the left-hand side. Gill – wearing his distinctive red gloves and pink boots – made a powerful run which saw him beat two Claregalway defenders before he was pulled down inside the square.

Referee Gerard Anthony Lohan had little hesitation in awarding the penalty, and Cian Murphy stepped up and dispatched the ball high to the goalkeeper’s right-hand side.

Pictured: Jack Lonergan of Claregalway tries to sidestep thew challenge of Corofin’s Shane Canavan.