Corofin complete the double for third year running

Corofin                 0-11

Tuam Stars          0-9

FOR the third successive season, Corofin have completed the senior football League and Championship double after they did just about enough to get the better of a distinctly average Tuam Stars side once again on Sunday in Tuam Stadium.

Corofin were able to showcase the staggering strength in depth of their panel on this occasion, removing eight starters from the side that demolished St. Brigid’s only a week earlier. The replacements fitted in seamlessly and while this was a dour, error-ridden contest at times, they managed to keep Tuam Stars at arm’s length for the majority of it.

Looking to recapture a title they last won in 1980, Tuam knew they would need to restrict Corofin to a reasonable scoreline while taking the majority of scoring opportunities that came their way. While they did the former to a certain degree, the latter proved beyond them as nine successive first half attempts failed to elicit a score.

This allowed Corofin, who were having difficulties of their own, to cruise into a five point lead when they found their rhythm in the closing stages of the opening period. While Tuam Stars kept plugging away and twice got back within two points, a late rally to overcome the provincial kingpins never looked a real possibility.

Tom Healy, Oisín Mannion, Dylan McHugh, Alan Burke, Ciaran Brady, Barry O’Donovan, Martin Farragher, and Dylan Canney were drafted into the Corofin side with a host of regular starters rested entirely. Farragher’s return from injury was perhaps most noteworthy, and while the forward only lasted 40 minutes, he appeared not to have suffered any recurrence of the hamstring injury that has kept him on the sidelines.

On a cold but calm afternoon, Tuam Stars pressed forward initially from the throw-in, and after a sustained period of possession, eventually engineered a shooting chance which Shane Curtin took expertly with the outside of his left foot. Damningly, though, they would not score again until the final minute of the half.

To compound matters, they also gifted Corofin their first score on five minutes when handling the ball on the ground with not a saffron and green jersey in the vicinity after a misplaced pass. Jason Leonard curled over the free and within a few minutes, they were ahead as Michael Farragher sped out in from of his man, collected an accurate foot pass and then fed the onrushing O’Donovan in a swift movement, and he pointed under no pressure.

Full coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune.