Sports
High flying Corofin can expect fierce challenge
IT’S a Connacht club football final to whet the appetite not only of the partisans but also the neutrals, as two of the most prolific scoring machines in the country come head-to-head at Castlebar’s McHale Park on Sunday (2.0) in search of provincial glory.
Statistics might not be the be all and end all of sport but they’re always worth a glance at – between them in their last three competitive games each, Corofin and Ballintubber have put together the quite staggering total of 30 goals and 76 points.
In an era when defensive systems and men behind the ball tactics have tended to choke attacking play, the scoring prowess of Sunday’s finalists over recent weeks and months takes some beating.
Corofin struck 4-14 against Milltown in the county semi-final, 5-12 in the county final win over St. Michael’s and 7-20 in the Connacht semi-final demolition of Aughawillan at Carrick-on-Shannon on Sunday week last.
Ballintubber mightn’t quite have matched those tallies but they have come close. Their 9-11 to 2-12 county semi-final success over Knockmore made national headlines with the four O’Connor brothers hitting six goals between them, while against top drawer teams in Castlebar and St. Brigids, they still knocked in 2-9 and 3-10 respectively.
One big advantage that Ballintubber have coming into this game has to be the highly competitive nature of their last two ties against ‘the Mitchels’ and St. Brigids, where they had to battle their way to three point wins.
Corofin remain untested so far this year having steamrolled through all opposition in Galway and Leitrim so far and that lack of competitive fare has to be a real worry for Stephen Rochford and his management team.
“What has happened has happened so far this year but we all know that we face one mighty battle on Sunday. Ballintubber are a top class side with a good defence, a very strong midfield, and a forward line that’s full of scoring power.
“They have a top class management team in Peter Ford and Tony Duffy and they aren’t just confined to a few dangerous players. They carry a lot of threats all over the pitch and they have a really wide spread of talent,” said Rochford.
Full preview in this week’s Connacht Tribune.