Maigh Cuilinn 1-10

Tuam Stars 0-10

By Pádraic Ó Ciardha at Tuam Stadium

MAIGH Cuilinn have reached a fourth senior county final in five years after a typically dogged, never-say-die performance got them over the line against Tuam Stars last Sunday.

Cathal Clancy’s side were far from their best at Tuam Stadium but even when things looked to be going against them, they refused to lay down and showed that extra bit of guile when needed in the final quarter.

It was Neil Mulcahy who got the game’s decisive score in the 46th minute and while the identity of the goal-scoring hero might be a bit surprising, the move which created the chance and the players involved went a long way to showing how Maigh Cuilinn got the job done in this one and why you can never rule them out.

Tuam had done brilliantly to contain Maigh Cuilinn’s attack to that point and with Dessie Conneely having been earlier forced off through injury, their attack was blunted further. In this Maigh Cuilinn team, however, every man is expected to contribute in and out of possession and it was three ‘nominal’ defenders who had the key involvements in getting the goal.

With his side trailing 0-8 to 0-9, David Wynne set off on a good run down the middle but he was eventually met by Luke Davin and Dara Heneghan on the edge of the ‘D’, who ripped the ball from him only for Conor Corcoran to pick it up.

There didn’t seem to be much on when Corcoran got possession but when he skilfully spun between Davin and Heneghan, space suddenly appeared behind the Tuam rearguard. Mulcahy made the run in behind and, despite the best efforts of Rory O’Connor, the Maigh Cuilinn man got a left-footed shot away and put his side into a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Tuam were not without their chances in the time that remained, however, and it will gnaw at them for a while that they failed to take advantage. Dara O’Rourke put a point between the sides again with a good score in the 49th minute but Tuam failed to score again before the final whistle, failing to find the target with five consecutive shots as Maigh Cuilinn tacked on a couple more points through Paul Kelly, who was superb in those closing stages.

There was a real sense that a first county final appearance since 2019 was on for Tuam, especially in the first half. The sides were level at half-time, 0-6 each, but Tuam had much the better of it in the opening period, reeling of four points in a row at one stage only to be pegged back by a couple of late Dessie Conneely frees.

Pictured: Paul Collins of Tuam Stars gets to the ball ahead of Maigh Cuilinn’s Dessie Conneely during Sunday’s senior football semi-final at Tuam Stadium. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.