Sports
Corofin on cloud nine after crushing Ballintubber
COROFIN 2-13
BALLINTUBBER 1-7
ANY lingering doubts about the bona fides of Corofin as a club side of genuine quality and class were well and truly buried under the green sod of Castlebar’s MacHale Park on Sunday when the Galway champions demolished the challenge of an outclassed Ballintubber side.
This was to be the game to test Corofin following a season of big wins across Galway and Leitrim, with Ballintubber reputedly packing a fair punch after recent successes over Castlebar and St. Brigids, but once more Stephen Rochford’s side quite simply played the game at a different level to their opponents.
With a trip to London coming up before Christmas, Corofin will be doing their best to dampen down expectations, but yet the team and management will take a lot of quiet satisfaction from travelling down to Ballintubber’s backdoor and returning to Cummer with the Shane McGettigan Cup.
There was no scrimping or scraping in this Corofin success. They might have only led by three points at the interval but by then they had laid down a very clear marker in terms of winning clean possession, moving the ball at pace, and into the bargain, defending quite stingily as well.
After the first quarter, Corofin had won the first big battle of this match around the middle of the field. Their trio of Ronan Steede, Daithí Burke and Greg Higgins were utterly dominant against Stephen Broderick and Jason Gibbons, a duo who came into the game with impressive form cards.
That possession graph never really changed from start to finish, while in defence, Gary Delany (back after injury) and Kieran Fitzgerald, defended with a zeal that almost completely shut-out a Ballintubber attack, unable to generate any real poke.
The final part of the Corofin success package was provided in their livewire attack, where Ian Burke, in particular gave a class exhibition of corner forward play – always out in front of his man, quick with his passes but most importantly willing to look up at the posts and drive the ball over the blackspot.
He was by no means a ‘lone bird’ in his endeavours with Gary Sice, Michael Lundy and Michael Farragher also lively and deadly accurate in their ball distribution, as Ballintubber struggled to keep in touch.
Corofin’s performance though cannot be segmented and therein lies their real strength – the whole of their endeavour is far greater than the sum of its parts. As an integrated unit, Corofin so far, seem to be in a league of their own in club football.
Once Corofin established their midfield superiority early on, a steady stream of chances started to be created with Ian Burke kicking four of their seven first half points while the Farragher brothers, Michael and Martin, as well as Michael Lundy also found the target.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GALWAY United need to guard against any kind of complacency when they make the short hop down the M18 this Friday to take on Treaty United at the Markets Field (7.45pm).
The game is a meeting of the two form teams in the division, and as in previous meetings between the sides, will have an additional edge given the number of former United players in the home side’s ranks, and the pair of Limerick lads playing for United.
There might have been just the eight meetings between the sides since Treaty became the latest iteration to represent Limerick in the League of Ireland in 2021, and while United have yet to lose to the men in the candy-cane strips, there has never been more than a goal in four of their eight wins.
The most recent of those was back in February, when Rob Slevin scored the only goal of the game in Eamonn Deacy Park after a tough battle against a side who made a slow start to the season, before finally finding their groove in the past month.
Having taken just three points from their first six games before finally getting a win against Longford Town, they reverted to type with just one point from their next three games, but are now on a run of four wins on the spin, scoring 12 goals and conceding just one.
Their most recent win was a 3-0 victory away to Longford Town last Saturday, and they could have won by double that against the only side to have beaten United this season. That in itself is a warning.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Soccer Wrap with Mike Rafferty
While the Salthill Devon men’s team might have lost their grip on the Connacht Junior Cup that they held for two seasons, the club’s women’s side have picked up the mantle and on Sunday last in Headford were crowned provincial champions with a 4-3 win over Manulla.
Following midweek wins for Maree/Oranmore and Knocknacarra, the stage is now almost set for the semi-finals of the Michael Byrne Cup with Salthill Devon meeting St Bernard’s on Sunday in an outstanding quarter-final, with the winners advancing to a semi-final against Maree/Oranmore, while Colga will face Knocknacarra in the other last four contest.
Just one league issue remains to be decided, with the Championship runners-up position up for grabs, as Dynamo Blues have to win their two remaining games in order to overtake Colemanstown United who have finished their programme.
WOMEN’S CONNACHT CUP FINAL
Salthill Devon 4
Manulla 3
Ellerose O’Flaherty scored twice as Salthill Devon were crowned provincial champions with a win over a Mayo side who were losing in the final for the second year in succession.
Backboned by a number of players who previously had League of Ireland experience with Galway WFC, Devon suffered an early set back when Jess Nolan put Manulla ahead, before O’Flaherty levelled matters with a cracking finish on 20 minutes, which was quickly followed by a long-range free-kick from Aoife Walsh.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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