Victorious manager Rochford won’t be leaving classy Corofin in the lurch

COROFIN don’t want to lose Stephen Rochford after guiding the club to an All-Ireland club success and the completion of a three-in-a-row of county titles over the course of the last eight months, but it’s that incredible record that could send him on his way.

Rochford is very loyal to Corofin. After all, they were the ones from a Galway footballing heartland who ‘went up to Mayo’ three seasons ago for a trainer and then manager – it’s a trust that the Crossmolina man is still very touched by.

Quite understandably he has continued to ‘kick to touch’ on his filling of the vacant managerial position in his native county although he has always said that to take charge of Mayo is one of his ambitions.

“Corofin have been very good to me. They were the ones who gave me the chance and who put faith in me three years ago and I feel a very strong sense of loyalty to them. They went out on a limb that time to take me on and I want to repay them for that.

“I want to see this campaign through with Corofin and for now the only thing I’m looking forward to is our match against Mohill in two weeks time. That’s my priority over the next week and a half,” said Rochford.

Since coming in as trainer under David Morris three years ago, Rochford then took over the managerial reins last year, and as they say, the rest is history.

His reputation in Corofin for man management, preparation, speed and ball based training sessions, and for studying opposing teams in great detail, has mushroomed over the past couple of years. He is the man they want to try and guide them to back-to-back All-Ireland titles.

He is though a lot more comfortable in talking about Sunday’s success than looking into the future too much. “We knew that we had to step it up last Sunday and over the course of the season it has been hard to replicate the form we showed last February or March.

“I don’t think that any team in any sport can maintain a peak level of performance all year round. But I think that last Sunday showed the hunger and the desire is there among these lads.

“We started out by giving full respect to Mountbellew. They are a very strong side and came into this final on the back of some very good wins. I knew, and the lads knew, that we had to reach a higher level,” said Rochford.

In the end, there are those who might have considered Sunday’s contest to have been a one sided county final, but for the first half and for most of the third quarter, it was highly competitive. With 11 minutes gone in the second period, Corofin only led by 2-6 to 0-10 and Mountbellew had spurned a couple of point chances.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.