Corofin cut loose to leave Leitrim champs in a spin

COROFIN 7-20

AUGHAWILLAN 0-6

FOR Corofin, a match to be quietly filed away into the noted folder . . . for Aughawillan, a humiliation that their efforts all year scarcely deserved . . . and for the neutral, something of a purgatorial experience in seeing the strong wipe out the weak.

Corofin cannot be faulted for dealing with what’s put in front of them, but the fact of the matter is that it will be well into November before the Galway champions are seriously tested, and that lack of competitive matches will in itself be a serious worry as Ballintubber lurk in the long grass.

Last Sunday’s Connacht semi-final at Carrick-on-Shannon was competitive for the first 15 minutes and those of us hoping for a bit of value from the match, felt for a few fleeting moments, that some questions might be asked of Corofin.

The collapse of the Aughawillan challenge when it arrived was catastrophic for the Leitrim champions, who in fairness to them never stopped trying, but they were just up against a side playing the game at a completely different level of pace and skill.

Corofin have improved a fair measure since last year and maybe they are just a super team given the manner in which they have despatched all opposition so far this year, but any judgment on that assertion has to be adjourned until the afternoon of November 23 next in Castlebar.

When Gary Sice kicked Corofin’s fifth point of the match in the 15th minute to put them 0-5 to 0-3 ahead, the game has something of an unexpected edge to it after Ciaran Gilheany (2) and Gary Plunkett had fired over early points for Aughawillan.

On top of that, the Aughawillan full forward Gary Plunkett had, on a couple of occasions, slipped inside the Corofin defence with a brave advance from goalkeeper Thomas Healy denying the no. 14 what looked like a certain goal in the 7th minute.

All the while though, the little volcanoes were beginning to rumble in the other half of the pitch, with a feature of Corofin’s early play being long range diagonal kicked passes that almost inevitably found the chest of their target player.

Corofin wing forward Dylan Wall had an early strike saved by Aughawillan ‘keeper Colin Maguire while midway through the half, it took a last gasp block from an Aughawillan defender to deny Gary Sice a major score.

Full report in this week’s Connacht Tribune.