Sports
Lundy inspires Corofin to magnificent semi-final triumph
Corofin 1-14
St. Vincent’s 1-9
THE great dream lives on and it grows more vivid with the approach of dawn. Corofin mightn’t be there yet, but last Saturday in Tullamore they took one giant step in their bid to win a second ever All-Ireland club title.
This was champagne stuff . . . full of fizz, plus intrigue and all played out at a pace that ensured no one in the crowd of just under 4,200 could take their eye off the action for one second, or breathe easily until the final whistle sounded.
Corofin fairly silenced some of their critics who had claimed that they ‘hadn’t beaten much’ up until now when they ended a two year plus unbeaten run of the Leinster and All-Ireland champions.
St. Vincent’s might have had some of the bigger names coming into this match but the old Frank Morris mantra of ‘the team being everything’ really came into its own at O’Connor Park when the pressure was at its most intense.
Corofin’s moment of destiny came in a 90 second spell starting in the 22nd minute when Gary Delaney cracked a penalty off the Vincent’s crossbar.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, St. Vincent’s counter-attacked swiftly, resulting in Kieran Fitzgerald being adjudged to have fouled full forward Ciaran Dorney in the square — Tomás Quinn rattled the Corofin net with the resultant penalty.
That effectively was a six point swing and Corofin, after playing nearly all the football up until that juncture, now found themselves trailing by 1-5 to 0-7 in that crucial 10 minutes before the interval.
When Brendan Egan tacked on a quick point, Corofin now faced a foe that they hadn’t met over the course of the previous 12 months — they had to come from behind after enjoying a period of dominance.
Most of the Corofin supporters — who seemed to make up the majority of the crowd — probably would have settled for parity at the interval, but in the end they got a lot more than that.
Six minutes before the break, Michael Lundy — who had ran riot through the first half — slipped a deft pass into the path of Martin Farragher, who dribbled a low shot past Michael Savage in the Vincent’s goal. Corofin were back in business.
Lundy capped off what was probably the best individual first half display of attacking football since the days of Michael Donnellan and Padraic Joyce, with a top-of-the-range left footed point on the stroke of half-time, and the Vincent’s storm had been weathered.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GALWAY United need to guard against any kind of complacency when they make the short hop down the M18 this Friday to take on Treaty United at the Markets Field (7.45pm).
The game is a meeting of the two form teams in the division, and as in previous meetings between the sides, will have an additional edge given the number of former United players in the home side’s ranks, and the pair of Limerick lads playing for United.
There might have been just the eight meetings between the sides since Treaty became the latest iteration to represent Limerick in the League of Ireland in 2021, and while United have yet to lose to the men in the candy-cane strips, there has never been more than a goal in four of their eight wins.
The most recent of those was back in February, when Rob Slevin scored the only goal of the game in Eamonn Deacy Park after a tough battle against a side who made a slow start to the season, before finally finding their groove in the past month.
Having taken just three points from their first six games before finally getting a win against Longford Town, they reverted to type with just one point from their next three games, but are now on a run of four wins on the spin, scoring 12 goals and conceding just one.
Their most recent win was a 3-0 victory away to Longford Town last Saturday, and they could have won by double that against the only side to have beaten United this season. That in itself is a warning.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Soccer Wrap with Mike Rafferty
While the Salthill Devon men’s team might have lost their grip on the Connacht Junior Cup that they held for two seasons, the club’s women’s side have picked up the mantle and on Sunday last in Headford were crowned provincial champions with a 4-3 win over Manulla.
Following midweek wins for Maree/Oranmore and Knocknacarra, the stage is now almost set for the semi-finals of the Michael Byrne Cup with Salthill Devon meeting St Bernard’s on Sunday in an outstanding quarter-final, with the winners advancing to a semi-final against Maree/Oranmore, while Colga will face Knocknacarra in the other last four contest.
Just one league issue remains to be decided, with the Championship runners-up position up for grabs, as Dynamo Blues have to win their two remaining games in order to overtake Colemanstown United who have finished their programme.
WOMEN’S CONNACHT CUP FINAL
Salthill Devon 4
Manulla 3
Ellerose O’Flaherty scored twice as Salthill Devon were crowned provincial champions with a win over a Mayo side who were losing in the final for the second year in succession.
Backboned by a number of players who previously had League of Ireland experience with Galway WFC, Devon suffered an early set back when Jess Nolan put Manulla ahead, before O’Flaherty levelled matters with a cracking finish on 20 minutes, which was quickly followed by a long-range free-kick from Aoife Walsh.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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