Corofin footballers in a league of their own

Corofin 0-11

St. James’ 0-7

STEPHEN Rochford’s three years in charge of Corofin have been an unmitigated success, and their total dominance of Galway club football again in 2015 was confirmed when another League and Championship double was secured in Tuam Stadium last weekend.

Rochford’s troops signed off on his last competitive game at the helm with a hard-earned four point victory over St. James’ in the refixed Division One final. The Crossmolina native departs the club having created a lasting legacy and some wonderful memories, and he deserves the best of well wishes in his new adventure with Mayo.

But back to last Sunday. This match was due to be played in Loughgeorge on December 4, but Storm Desmond put paid to that, leaving Corofin to seal the league title on the final Sunday before Christmas for the second year running. Although it took  St. James’ until the second half to get going, they put it up to Corofin after half-time.

Corofin led 0-7 to 0-2 at the break after playing into the ‘Town End’ goal with the breeze. St. James’ lacked direction in the first half, but the fact that they last played a senior championship game against Killererin on June 21 was obviously a mitigating factor.

They were a different team in the second period, and Paul Conroy had cut the deficit to 0-8 to 0-6 by the 49th minute with his third free. From the resultant kickout, Tom Healy fluffed his lines, kicking the ball straight to Dave O’Connell, who fed Eoin McHugh. Healy quickly redeemed himself to get down smartly to McHugh’s effort and deflect the ball out for a ’45.

It was James’ best shot of causing an upset, but momentum was still with them as they held a one-man advantage. Some of Shane Hehir’s refereeing decisions annoyed both sets of players and supporters, but Kieran McGrath can have little complaints with his sending off just before Conroy’s 49th minute free.

McGrath first pushed Conroy to the floor, after reacting to a hard tackle from the St. James’ midfielder, after which McGrath had actually been awarded a free. The Corofin number five was yellow carded, and from the resulting hop ball, he was too high around the neck of Mark Kelly with a challenge, which duly led to him receiving his marching orders.

As his been Corofin’s trademark under Rochford, they didn’t panic, and Conor Cunningham was brought on for forward Paddy Madden. Cunningham filled the wing-back slot vacated by McGrath, and perhaps Corofin’s best player of the Rochford era, Gary Sice, came into his own in the final 10 minutes.

Full match report in this week’s Connacht Tribune