Corofin 1-14
St Vincent’s 1-9
A STUNNING DISPLAY of attacking football enabled Galway’s Corofin to knock out reigning AIB All-Ireland senior club champions St Vincent’s at the semi-final stage today in Tullamore.
Man-of-the-match Michael Lundy was in superb form and he teamed up with the brilliant Ian Burke in the full-forward line to cause the Dublin kingpins huge problems during the game. That duo kicked 0-9 between them and allied to 1-2 from Martin Farragher and 0-3 from Gary Sice, the Connacht outfit had five points to spare at the final whistle in O’Connor Park.
It was a famous win for Corofin and propels them towards an appearance in the St Patrick’s Day showpiece where they will hope to claim the club’s second All-Ireland title after previously winning out in 1998. For several of the current players, today’s triumph helped wipe away the searing disappointment of their All-Ireland semi-final defeats to Kilmacud Crokes in 2009 and St Gall’s in 2010.
St Vincent’s couldn’t cope with their opponents attacking brand of football. They were outplayed during the first-half but were still only two points adrift at the break. In the second-half they controlled the game for a spell in the third quarter to cut Corofin’s advantage to only two points.
They had genuine grounds for complaint in the 35th minute when Ciaran Dorney was denied a goal after a Corofin fouled the ball on the ground but play was waved on. Yet overall St Vincent’s were beaten by a better team and they failed to score in the final ten minutes of the game. The threats of star forwards Diarmuid Connolly and Quinn were nullified by a Corofin team, managed by 2001 Crossmolina All-Ireland club winner Stephen Rockford, who had their homework done.
Corofin prevented St Vincent’s from scaling the heights they reached before Christmas in Dublin and Leinster but both teams deserved credit for serving up a cracking game of football that was illuminated by the direct kick-passing on show.
Corofin were ahead 0-7 to 0-4 by the 19th minute with Lundy and Burke on fire as they ripped St Vincent’s apart. But then in the 24th minute Corofin’s Gary Delaney hammered a penalty against the bar after Gary Sice was fouled and then St Vincent’s went upfield to win a penalty themselves when Dorney was fouled. Mossy Quinn made no mistake in despatching the resultant kick to the net.
The pendulum had swung towards St Vincent’s as they were ahead 1-6 to 0-7 approaching half-time but Corofin crucially hit back. They moved into a 1-8 to 1-6 lead at the midway mark with Martin Farragher grabbing their goal after Lundy created the chance.
Corofin hit the first three points of the second-half but St Vincent’s wrestled back control, it seemed like they might wear their opponents down. However Corofin steadied themselves and shut up shop for the last ten minutes while also picking off three points courtesy of Burke, Sice and Farragher.
Scorers for Corofin: Ian Burke 0-5 (0-1f), Martin Farragher 1-2, Michael Lundy 0-4, Gary Sice 0-3 (0-3f).
Scorers for St Vincent’s: Mossy Quinn 1-1 (0-1f), Diarmuid Connolly 0-3 (0-1f), Ruairi Trainor 0-2, Ciarán Dorney, Brendan Egan, Shane Carthy 0-1 each.
COROFIN
1. Thomas Healy
2. Ciaran McGrath
3. Kieran Fitzgerald
4. Cathal Silke
5. Greg Higgins
6. Alan Burke
7. Liam Silke
8. Daithi Burke
9. Ronan Steede
10. Gary Sice
11. Mike Farragher
12. Gary Delaney
13. Martin Farragher
14. Micheál Lundy
15. Ian Burke
Subs
17. Dylan Wall for Steede (54)
19. Conor Cunningham for Sice (60)
20. Justin Burke for Martin Farragher (60)
21. Kevin Murphy for Michael Farragher (62)
ST VINCENT’S
1. Michael Savage
18. Cameron Diamond
3. Jarlath Curley
4. Hugh Gill
5. Brendan Egan
6. Ger Brennan
7. Mick Concarr
8. Eamon Fennell
22. Cormac Diamond
10. Gavin Burke
11. Diarmuid Connolly
12. Shane Carthy
13. Ruairi Treanor
14. Ciaran Dorney
15. Mossy Quinn
Subs
21. Tiernan Diamond for Cormac Diamond (36)
24. Greg Murphy for Dorney (40)
17. Eoin Brady for Concarr (55)
