Mountbellew-Moylough end 35 years of Galway heartache as they knock out Corofin

Having lost four of the last six county finals, Mountbellew-Moylough ran out six-point winners against the All-Ireland champions.

Mountbellew-Moylough 1-12

Corofin 0-9

John Fallon reports from Pearse Stadium

MOUNTBELLEW-MOYLOUGH ENDED years of county final heartbreak to claim their first Galway SFC since 1986 with a fully deserved win over reigning All-Ireland club champions Corofin at Pearse Stadium.

Val Daly’s men were full value for their fourth Galway title having lost four in the last six seasons, three of them to Corofin.

But they put the heartbreak behind them to produce a stunning display from start to finish in Salthill.

Mountbellew-Moylough used the wind well in the opening half and deservedly led by 0-8 to 0-3 at the interval after dominating the key positions.

Mountbellew-Moylough put the Corofin kickout under serious pressure with Michael Daly and Matthew Barrett dominating midfield and with Eoin Finnerty and Barry McHugh in top form up front, they built up a good lead as Corofin struggled to get a foothold.

Finnerty, McHugh and John Daly found the range to lead by three after eight minutes before midfielder Ronan Steede got Corofin off the mark with a good point from the right.

Mountbellew-Moylough hit back and joint captain Finnerty landed two in a row and Michael Daly and McHugh also hit the target to lead by 0-7 to 0-1 after 19 minutes.

Corofin responded with points from Dylan Canney and a free from Darragh Silke but Mountbellew-Moylough finished the half impressively with McHugh adding a free from 50 metres to lead by five at the interval.

McHugh extended the lead five minutes after the restart and then Colin Ryan and Michael Daly combined to send Finnerty through and he blasted to the roof of the net to lead by 1-9 to 0-3.

Jason Leonard pulled a point for Corofin before Paul Donnellan and Canney swapped points for Mountbellew-Moylough to lead by 1-10 to 0-6 at the second water break.

Corofin never looked like saving the day from there as Mountbellew-Moylough finished strongly to claim the title, despite losing McHugh to a second yellow card in the dying moments.

Scorers for Mountbellew-Moylough: Eoin Finnerty 1-3 (0-1m), Barry McHugh 0-5 (0-3f), John Daly 0-1, Michael Daly 0-1, Paul Donnellan 0-1, Stephen Boyle 0-1.

Scorers for Corofin: Dylan Canney 0-3, Darragh Silke 0-2 (0-1f), Jason Leonard 0-2 (0-1f), Ronan Steede 0-1, Michael Lundy 0-1.

Mountbellew-Moylough

1. Damien Boyle

3. Billy Mannion
2. Colin Murray
22. Mark Mannion

6. John Daly
7. James Foley
5. Colin Ryan

8. Michael Daly
9. Matthew Barrett

11. Paul Donnellan
10. Shane Moran
12. Gerard Donohue

13. Paddy Kelly
14. Eoin Finnerty
15. Barry McHugh

Substitutes:

4. Gary Sweeney for M Mannion (38)
17. Aaron McHugh for Ryan (43)
19. Leo Donnellan for Paul Donnellan (50)
20. Stephen Boyle for Donohue (55)

Corofin

1. Bernard Power

6. Dylan McHugh
3. Liam Silke
2. Cathal Silke

19. Gavin Burke
7. Dylan Wall
17. Colin Brady

8. Daithi Burke
9. Ronan Steede

5. Kieran Molloy
14. Michael Lundy
12. Jason Leonard

13. Darragh Silke
15. Martin Farragher
23. Dylan Canney

Substitutes:

21. Tony Gill for Brady (half-time)
4. Ciaran McGrath for C Silke (43)
10. Conor Newell for Molloy (43)
11. Michael Farragher for Martin Farragher (46)
25. Matthew Cooley for Burke (46)

Referee: Thomas Murphy (Annaghdown)

BTL 5