Clinical Corofin looking good for the four-in-a-row

Corofin  2-10

Tuam Stars 0-9

COROFIN’S position as unbackable favourites to land their fourth county title in succession grew even stronger as they brushed aside the limited challenge of Tuam Stars on Sunday, registering a seven point victory in testing conditions thanks to goals in either half from Gary Sice and Liam Silke.

Sice’s clinical third minute strike punctured a large hole in any hope Tuam Stars had of opening up a sizeable lead when playing with the wind at their backs. From that moment, the Stars needed to somehow work towards a tally of 1-11 or thereabouts and limit Corofin as much as possible, but despite their best efforts they could only manage seven points.

Corofin were just too good for them, composed on the ball, eager for work all over the pitch, and able to take the chances that presented themselves in the closing stages of the half. A one point advantage was never going to be near enough for Tuam Stars to hold onto given they had posed no goal threat in the first period, and so it proved as Corofin slowly edged clear in the final quarter.

The champions should have won by more in reality given the level of possession they had in the second period, and it took Silke’s well taken 52nd minute penalty to finally put the contest beyond doubt, if ever it was. Tuam Stars could only muster two late points in response, and there surely is a severe sense of frustration in their camp that they could not repeat the levels of performance that almost knocked the champions out in 2015.

Kevin O’Brien made four changes to his listed starting line-up before the throw-in, as Bernard Power began in goals, while Liam Silke, Kieran Molloy, and Martin Farragher also started. Tuam Stars replaced John Lawless and Gavan Connell with Seamus Kelly and Darren Kelly and within half a minute they had the perfect start as Gary O’Donnell powered forward to win a free.

Shane Curtin converted the free, but Corofin were showing their attacking intentions by keeping three forwards high up the pitch despite playing into the gale. Tuam’s worst nightmare came to fruition when Dylan Wall, who was lively from the off, fed a neat pass inside to the roving Gary Sice, and he turned onto his left before burying a low shot beyond Johnny Trayers from 15 yards out.

Tuam Stars responded gamely, with Curtin firing over another free before grabbing a seventh minute effort from play, but they now needed to keep the scores ticking over and couldn’t afford a nine minute scoreless spell, which is what followed. They only took on 11 shots at the posts over the half and looked short of players who were willing or able to take on shots from around the 40 metre mark, which is what was required with wind assistance available.

Corofin, for their part, were solid and compact, with Cathal Silke and Ciaran McGrath typically tenacious in the tackle, while Kieran Molloy’s workrate was immense. Tuam finally found a gap on 16 minutes when O’Donnell and Conor Rhatigan combined before Conor Doherty scored, with O’Donnell soon adding a point of his own.

Full coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune.