Injury blows for Corofin

Date Published: 05-Nov-2009

NOT even the absence of two key players, Kieran Fitzgerald and Alan O’Donovan, should prevent back-to-back county senior football champions Corofin from making it through to another provincial decider when they take on Leitrim title-holders Glencar-Manorhamilton in the Connacht semi-final at Tuam Stadium on Sunday (2pm).

Full-back Fitzgerald aggravated an old hamstring injury in a recent League defeat to Tuam Stars, while O’Donovan has yet to recover from the ankle injury which forced him out of the drawn county final against Mountbellew-Moylough on October 11.

Fitzgerald, who marshalled their defence superbly as the champions came from behind against Mountbellew in the replay, is definitely out of Sunday’s clash while O’Donovan might just be capable of coming off the bench for ten or 15 minutes, if needed.

That said, the strongest team in Galway club football should be more than capable of overcoming the Leitrim champions, given that they can still boast the talents of inter-county players like Alan Burke, Gary Sice, and Damien Burke.

There is a quiet determination within Gerry Keane’s side to go as far as possible this year.

They only lost out on a place at Croke Park on St. Patrick’s Day thanks to the concession of some late scores to eventual champions Kilmacud Crokes in the All-Ireland semi-final at Mullingar back in February.

Corofin, already missing county star Michael Comer to a long-term cruciate problem, staged a remarkable comeback against the wind after losing Fitzgerald to an arm injury early in the second half, only for the Crokes to kill them off in a grandstand finish.

With so many of their players involved with county teams, it was inevitable that fatigue would set in and Corofin certainly rode their luck in the early stages of the county championship. After losing their first round tie to Micheal Breathnach (1-13 to 0-10), they used their ‘get out of jail’ card in the qualifiers, before beginning another relentless march towards the county title.

Fitzgerald’s towering presence at full-back made a huge difference in both games against Mountbellew, but there is hardly a club in the province with the all-round strength of the current Corofin panel, even if they have been troubled by injuries in 2009.

Even the venue should suit the North Galway men this weekend, as they have now played four championship games in a row at Tuam Stadium. It was there that they overcame Killererin (0-11 to 0- 8) in the quarter-final, Salthill-Knocknacarra in the semi-final (2-10 to 0-10) and, eventually, Mountbellew on their way to their 13th county title.

Keane revealed this week that the champions were missing seven of their starting 15 for the recent League defeat to Tuam Stars, but most have recovered from the ’flu bug which gripped the panel a fortnight ago, while the likes of young Ronan Steede is now fully focused on senior matters after losing the county minor final to St. James’ last weekend.

For more see page 55 of this week’s Connacht Tribune