Varley turns the screw in big victory for slick Cortoon side

Cortoon Shamrocks 4-14

An Cheathrú Rua 2-8

SCORING 2-4 in any half, at any level is serious going, and Adrian Varley’s virtuoso first half display propelled Cortoon Shamrocks to an emphatic 12-point victory over An Cheathrú Rua.

Breaking into the Galway senior starting 15 this year shows the strides Varley has been making, and he is certainly one of the best club forwards in the county. As a scoring tour de force, it resembled Patrick Sweeney’s display against Killererin a few weeks ago. Whether out in front or in the air, Varley consistently won primary possession, and his Cortoon team-mates did pick him out with some fine passes in the first half.

We’ve seen senior inter-county teams revert to sending long diagonal balls to a target man at the edge of the square in 2015, and Cortoon used their superiority in this aspect of the game to counteract the players which An Cheathrú Rua dropped back.

It was the accuracy of these passes which stood out, and Cathal Mulryan sent in two excellent balls which led directly to Varley’s brace of goals. Derek Savage, David Warde and Alan Boyle also impressed with their kick passing. Savage was returning to senior championship action after missing Cortoon’s previous fixture with Leitir Móir in June, and acted as a playmaker from deep last Sunday.

Although An Cheathrú Rua did concede 4-14, a total of 2-8 is healthy going in any match. The folly of allowing NUIG still participate in the senior championship is a debate for another day, but you feel if Carraroe had been given the benefit of a competitive match a weekend prior to this fixture, then they would have fared out better.

An Cheathrú Rua started very well and did hit the back of the net twice in the opening 10 minutes, but from there on in, it was Cortoon who called all the shots. Cortoon Shamrocks took a 2-10 to 2-2 lead into the changing rooms at the end of the first half.

The county semi-final draw made at half-time pits Cortoon against either Corofin or Tuam Stars. Both teams would provide a stern examination of Cortoon’s credentials, but from beating St. Michael’s to Leitir Móir and now An Cheathrú Rua, they have been on an upward trajectory in this year’s championship.

An Alan Tierney point and two Joe Donnellan scores had eased Cortoon into an early lead before a glut of goals arrived. Similar to the Killanin-Leitir Móir game, this match began fiercely, and three majors were recorded from the 7th to 10th minutes.

Niall O Briain pulled Matthew Concannon out from the full-back position, and picked out the onrushing Maitiu O Domhnaill with a sweet pass for the first. O Domhnaill lobbed Cortoon goalie Darragh Glynn, but Mulryan hit Varley for Cortoon’s opening goal 60 seconds later. Corner-back Peadar O Conghaile then got Carraroe’s second major.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.