Corofin ready for Cork rivals who have big score to settle

REIGNING champions Corofin will look to keep alive their dream of completing a three-in-a-row of All-Ireland senior club titles when they face Cork’s Nemo Rangers in the penultimate stage of the competition at Cusack Park, Ennis, on Saturday (1:30pm).

With Corofin having dismantled Nemo Rangers in the 2018 St. Patrick’s Day final, winning on the impressive scoreline of 2-19 to 0-10, the Galway holders are 2/5 on favourites to defeat the same opposition again. However, Corofin boss Kevin O’Brien is expecting a far greater “edge” to Nemo Rangers this time round.

“The overall thing about Nemo this year is that they are conceding very little and they are getting the scores on the board. They have a good defence and they have very good forwards, especially in the likes of Luke Connolly, probably one of the best forwards in the country. So, that is a big challenge for us, particularly this time of the year when it is hard to rack up a decent score.

“So, when you’re playing against a mean defence, it is tough, as Clonmel Commercials found out. That was a very good win for Nemo. They probably had a bit of revenge on the mind given what happened in 2015 when losing out to Clonmel in the Munster final. So, that was their main focus and they will probably bring the same edge into our game the next day,” believes O’Brien.

That said, having won their seventh consecutive county title and fourth Connacht crown in a row — they accounted for Ballintubber of Mayo and Padraig Pearses of Roscommon in the provincial series — Corofin seem to be well primed to make their assault on yet another All-Ireland series.

For Corofin have not only proved to be head and shoulders above teams in Galway and Connacht, but right across the country, as underlined by their All-Ireland final victories over Slaughtneil of Derry (2015), Nemo Rangers of Cork (2018) and Dr Crokes of Kerry (2019) in recent years.

At the heart of these victories is a core group of players who have continually driven on the Corofin juggernaut, the likes of Kieran Fitzgerald, Ciaran McGrath, Ronan Steede, Gary Sice and captain Micheál Lundy, among others.

Consequently, despite using well over two dozen players in the Galway championship, it would be a surprise if the team alters much from that which defeated Dr Crokes 2-16 to 0-10 last March. Bernard Power will once again man the posts while Liam Silke, Fitzgerald, Cathal Silke, Dylan McHugh, Dylan Wall and Kieran Molloy look a likely defensive sextet.

Daithí Burke and Ronan Steede have formed a formidable midfield partnership in the past — and should do so again — while, up front, Sice, Jason Leonard, Lundy, Ian Burke and the two Farraghers, Michael and Martin, should form the attack.

There are others, though, who have been pushing hard for starting berths, no more so than Conor Cunningham, Colin Brady and Ciaran McGrath and 2019 Galway U20 players Gavin Burke, Ross Mahon and Darragh Silke.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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