It’s four-in-a-row for unstoppable Corofin

Corofin 0-16

Salthill/Knocknacarra 0-11

THIS was the closest any team has come to Corofin in Galway during the 2016 championship season. And Salthill/Knocknacarra ran Corofin far closer than any other side has managed in a county senior football final in each of the past three years, when their winning margins were 10 points, 18 points and 12 points against Mountbellew/Moylough, St Michael’s and Salthill respectively.

It was also the only county final out of the most recent four, in which the North Galway kingpins didn’t score a goal (they bagged a total of tem in the previous three local deciders). But for all that, Corofin still cruised to a fourth successive title on Sunday at Pearse Stadium, a club record.

Defiant Salthill never wilted. They continually put it up to Corofin, and made them earn it, but still, over the hour, there was scarcely ever a doubt about the direction of the Frank Fox Cup.

Corofin were quick out of the blocks and raised three white flags in as many minutes – it was as damaging to Salthill as conceding an early goal. And for the remainder of the day Kevin O’Brien’s men nearly always held more than a three points’ cushion.

Midway through the second half, stubborn Salthill cut the deficit to three again but a brace of points from the game’s best player, Jason Leonard, who tallied nine points in total, five from play, was the perfect response from the champions, and fairly snuffed out any notions the city men had of causing an upset.

On a few occasions, Salthill had a right to feel hard done by, after not being awarded frees when their players were clearly fouled within scoring range – Seán Armstrong and Tadhg Haran both had strong claims ignored.

And to compound the sense of injustice, on at least one of those instances Corofin raced down the other end and split the posts. But refereeing decisions from Tomás Ó Fátharta, who had a good game overall, certainly didn’t decide Salthill’s fate, and it is clutching at straws to suggest otherwise.

It was the best performance Val Daly’s charges produced this year but Corofin were simply too strong for them.

Leonard’s impressive haul was one of the highlights, but Mike Farragher and Ian Burke produced some classy scores, too, and Mike Lundy, not long back from the US and evidently hungry for action, proved the perfect replacement for Gary Sice, who was named in the programme but didn’t start due to a niggling leg injury.

Any hopes that Sice’s absence would drastically weaken Corofin were put to bed early when Lundy signalled his intent by landing the first score seconds after the ball was thrown in. He faded a bit later on but Lundy brought energy and experience, and will be valuable to the cause in the Connacht campaign.

Full coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune.