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Date Published: {J}

Corofin 0-16

Tuam Stars 1-6

FRANK FARRAGHER AT TUAM STADIUM

SOMEWHERE, along the way of their late Summer travails, Corofin have discovered the great elixir that transported them from a place of vulnerability to a land of plenty and, last Sunday, Tuam Stars were the latest victims of this transformation.

Corofin did have their moments of second-half worry in a sparkling senior county final at Tuam Stadium, but their first half display of power football was probably the best they have produced since the renaissance of the club’s fortunes back in the early 1990s.

By the time Gerry Daly sounded the interval whistle, Corofin had sprinted into a 0-11 to 0-2 lead, and even allowing for the fact that they had played with the aid of the first-half wind into the town goal, there just seemed to be no way back for the Stars.

It is to Tuam’s eternal credit that they fought their way back into contention and with 11 minutes to go, could have reduced the deficit to just two points, had Shane Gaffney’s penalty not been superbly clawed away to safety by Corofin ‘keeper David Morris.

Alas, that was to be the last hurrah for the Stars, as Corofin called on all their wiles and experience to shut out the Tuam attack, while along the way delivering the final two scores of the match via the deadly boot of Alan O’Donovan.

It was a day of personal triumph for O’Donovan kicking a total of 10 points, made up of six frees, one ‘45’ and three precision efforts from play, to mark one of the great individual forward displays of county finals in Galway.

The Corofin sharpshooter would, however, be the first to admit that while he did deliver the key scores, this was a victory etched out of teamwork, unselfishness and a willingness to go that last mile by every members of a side imbued with a commendable work ethic.

Tuam won the toss and in a tactical move obviously agreed beforehand, captain Tony Costello opted to play into the wind, in the hope of restricting Corofin to a modest half-time lead and then delivering their own big second half charge.

It was a gamble that did not pay off. Corofin went through the first-half, imperious in defence, absolutely dominant in midfield and razor sharp in attack where the points rained in from all distances and angles.

It was tough going on Tuam and their followers during that first-half, but it has to be acknowledged that during this 30 minutes of play, Corofin gave an exhibition of all that’s good in Gaelic football.

Their first touch was unerring, everything was done at breathtaking pace, support players always seemed to be available in twos and threes, and all of those qualities were laced with a confidence that has sprouted vigorously since their replay success over Claregalway.

The ratio of first-half attacks broke down in favour of Corofin by at least five to one, with Tuam only managing to play a very small percentage of first-half game time in their opponents’ half of the field.

All of the first half action was into the town goal . . . it was a blitzkrieg attack and Tuam’s Dunkirk defences were unable to cope.

Such was the scale of Corofin’s dominance that Tuam’s main hope of survival lay in a high proportion of chances being spurned, but the opposite was the case.

Corofin might have had seven first half wides but they kicked 11 precision points, five of them from the boot of O’Donovan, while Damien Burke (2), Alan Burke, Kieran Comer, Justin Burke and Gary Delaney also hit the target.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.