Corofin 2-16
Dr Crokes 0-10
Kevin O’Brien reports from Croke Park
AFTER DELIVERING A third All-Ireland title in five years, Corofin have a strong argument to go down as the greatest club football team of all-time.
They’re right up there with the Crossmaglen Rangers side that won three in four years between 1997 and 2000.
Regardless, Corofin are the best we’ve seen this decade. They became just the just the fifth club to win back-to-back All-Irelands, after Armagh’s Crossmaglen (twice), St Finbarr’s of Cork and Dublin’s UCD.
Kevin O’Brien’s men won the Andy Merrigan Cup for the fourth time in their history with another clinical attacking display in a surprisingly one-sided final against the 2017 champions.
Last year they put 2-19 past Nemo Rangers to win by 15 points, this time it was 2-16 they dispatched against Dr Crokes.
The concession of two goals inside the opening 22 minutes and John Payne’s straight red card five minutes later badly hampered Dr Crokes’ chances. By the time Colm Cooper was sprung from the bench in the 36th minute, Corofin had powered into a 2-9 to 0-7 lead.
An outfit with this level of experience and intelligence was never going to let a lead like that slip.
Gary Sice, Jason Leonard and Martin Farragher did the bulk of the scoring with 2-12 between them, while man-of-the-match Daithi Burke and wing-back Kieran Molloy also shone for the champions.
The battle of the last two winners of this competition in front of 17, 819 was far more one-sided than expected.
Leonard’s seventh-minute goal gave Corofin the ideal start.
Martin Farragher’s shot at the posts was blocked by Mike Moloney, but the ball fell into the path of Kieran Molloy who side-footed it to Leonard. The wing-forward dispatched it low past Shane Murphy.
Dr Crokes fought back with points from Daithi Casey and a brace from Tony Brosnan, but eight minutes before the break Corofin hit the net for a second time. A free-flowing handpassing move involving Farragher and Daithi Burke saw Ian Burke set-up Sice for an easy palmed finish.
Sice clipped over a free a minute later to leave Corofin 2-4 to 0-5 ahead. Things went from bad to worse for Dr Crokes when John Payne received a straight red card for kicking out at Dylan Wall.
Dr Crokes went into the interval seven behind as Sice twice and Leonard added white flags.
Corofin passed up on a couple of goal chances in the third quarter as Sice and Leonard opted to take their points, while Daithi Burke saw his shot well-saved by Murphy.
Cooper and talented youngster Jordan Kiely were on the field by the 40th minute and the Dr Crokes attack immediately improved. David Shaw forced a good save from Bernard Power and then Michael Potts had a shot stopped near the line from Kieran Fitzgerald.
But four frees – two from Daithi Casey and one apiece from Brosnan and Cooper — was all Dr Crokes could score in the second-half.
Leonard, the Farragher brothers, Burke and Molloy all clipped over efforts in the closing stages to round off the victory for this marvellous group of players.
Scorers for Corofin: Gary Sice 1-5 (0-3f), Jason Leonard 1-3, Martin Farragher 0-4, Daithi Burke 0-2, Mike Farragher and Kieran Molloy 0-1 each.
Scorers for Dr Crokes: Tony Brosnan 0-5 (0-4f), Daithi Casey 0-3 (0-2f), Colm Cooper (0-1f) and Micheal Burns 0-1 each.
Corofin
1. Bernard Power
4. Liam Silke
3. Kieran Fitzgerald
2. Cathal Silke
6. Dylan McHugh
7. Dylan Wall
5. Kieran Molloy
8. Daithí Burke
9. Ronan Steede
15. Mike Farragher
11. Micheál Lundy (joint captain)
12. Jason Leonard
10. Gary Sice
13. Ian Burke
14. Martin Farragher
Subs
23. Colin Brady for Liam Silke (inj) (ht)
17. Conor Cunningham for Dylan McHiugh (47)
18. Gavin Burke for Lundy (52)
23. Dylan Canney for Sice (56)
28. Ciaran Brady for Daithi Burke (58)
Dr Crokes
1. Shane Murphy
2. John Payne
3. Michael Moloney
4. Fionn Fitzgerald
6. Gavin White
5. David O’Leary
7. Shane Doolan
8. Johnny Buckley
9. Daithí Casey
10. Micheál Burns
11. Gavin O’Shea
12. Brian Looney
15. Tony Brosnan
14. Kieran O’Leary
18. David Shaw
Subs
19. Michael Potts for Doolan (ht)
13. Colm Cooper for O’Shea (37)
20. Jordan Kiely for Kieran O’Leary (40)
17. Alan O’Sullivan for Cooper (blood sub) (44 – 45)
17. O’Sullivan for David O’Leary (46)
22. Eoin Brosnan for Casey (52)
25. Jason Lyne for Looney (57)
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