Inside Track with John McIntyre

Salthill-Knocknacarra bolted from the traps like scalded cats at Pearse Stadium on Saturday night.  Nursing a year’s hurt since their county semi-final humiliation by Corofin in 2024, Finian Hanley’s charges were like men possessed in their quest to salvage the team’s reputation.

It’s one thing being fired-up and ready to lay their bodies on the line, but what the city side did in the opening half of their latest knock-out clash against the champions was off the charts altogether. They simply blitzed Corofin in powering to a scarcely believable 1-14 to 0-4 interval advantage.

Despite losing county star John Maher just after the midway juncture of the half, the Seasiders were unrattled: they kept powering forward in administering a dose of their own medicine to a Corofin outfit which was only saved the indignity of failing to score from play in the opening 30-plus minutes by a Dylan Canney effort.

The title holders must have been aware that Salthill/Knocknacarra would be revved-up to restore some pride after last year’s embarrassment, but it looked as though Corofin were caught napping by the opposition’s quality and intensity. County players Rob Finnerty and Daniel O’Flaherty were on fire; while the likes of Charlie Power and Mark Mannion were also making their presence felt.

Having walloped Dunmore MacHales in the quarter-finals, perhaps Corofin were undercooked for Saturday’s assignment, but they were so far off the pace and guilty of untypical unforced errors in that first-half that there will probably be a tribunal of enquiry established in the parish.

We can never recollect a Corofin team being so badly mauled in a half hour of football, after which they trailed by a whopping 13-points. Finnerty’s early goal had set the tone, and to all intents and purposes, the semi-final was over. Most other teams would have accepted their fate, but then we saw why Corofin have captured a remarkable 18 county titles in the last 30 years.

It would have been beneath contempt for them to throw in the towel and they set about reeling in Salthill in typical methodical fashion – and only for Donie O’Sullivan’s save from Liam Silke in the dying seconds, Corofin would have pulled off surely the greatest comeback in the history of Galway club football.

Pictured: Salthill-Knocknacarra’s John Maher prepares to challenge Corofin’s Patrick Egan during Saturday’s Senior Football semi-final at Pearse Stadium. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.