Bergin’s long range free takes county final to replay

Date Published: 06-Oct-2009

COROFIN and Mountbellew/Moylough must lock horns again in a county finalreplay on Sunday week after a superb long range free from Joe Bergin in the last minute of normal time earned his side an unlikely draw against the reigning champions at Tuam Stadium last Sunday.

Given for the most part Corofin absolutely dominated the county showpiece, it is truly remarkable that Mountbellew/Moylough were still in touch in the 59th minute – Bergin’s shot from 55-60 yards out from the posts was the undoubted highlight of an otherwise staid affair.

The roof of Tuam Stadium almost took off as the Mountbellew/ Moylough faithful went wild at the levelling score but deep down they know Cyril Ryan and his charges played way below par and could well have ended up on the back of an almighty hiding if Corofin had any forwards of note. Mountbellew really did cash in their ‘get out of jail’ card.

Just prior to Bergin’s feat, Corofin captain Kieran Comer, who didn’t start due to flu, missed a glorious opportunity to put Corofin two-points in front with a few minutes remaining but he uncharacteristically skewed a relatively easy close-range free to let the underdogs off the hook. That surely would have been the nail in Mountbellew’s coffin, but they never gave up.

Even in the first five minutes alone, Corofin completely owned the football but were just 0-1 to no score in front, thanks in the main to some brutal wayward shooting – they tallied nine wides in the first half (12 in all) including five in the opening five minutes. Although they were totally outplayed, Mountbellew would have been pleased to be just one point in arrears, 0-5 to 0-6, at the break.

The second-half was full of end-to-end action and the closeness of the score-line kept the large crowd engaged, but there was a real lack of intensity and purpose to both teams’ play, with Mountbellew/Moylough in particular – surprisingly for the underdog challengers – looking very lacklustre and disinterested.

In fairness, they responded well in the second-half and actually outscored Corofin 0-3 to 0-4 to earn another bite at the cherry. Both camps will be extremely disappointed will relish a chance to set the record straight on Sunday, October 18.

A full match report and analysis will appear in Thursday’s Connacht and Friday’s City