Young and old celebrate magnificent effort by Corofin

BACK in 1990, on the second Sunday of September, an image sticks in my mind of a fanatical Corofin supporter leaving the county final minutes before the end, with his club flag straddled across his shoulders in the hope of better days to come.

He had just witnessed his side taking a 4-12 to 2-3 hiding in the county final at the hands of Salthill and we all thought that we were watching a major sea change in the balance of Gaelic football in Galway . . . from country heartlands to more urban power centres.

A few days later, I was in conversation with the then Salthill manager Tony Regan, who while delighted with his own club’s success that day, cautioned me into drawing too many dramatic long term conclusions about the nature of the result.

“Country clubs like Corofin will come back stronger than ever. The football traditions is there and they’ll be back,” he said at the time, and how right he was.

Last Saturday in Tullamore right in the middle of the field, I met that same supporter who so forlornly walked out of Tuam Stadium on September 9, 1990, one of the club’s greatest fans over the years, one John Joe Forde from Myles Park in Corofin.

John Joe has seen off eight decades of life and last Saturday, he was there with his flag and smiling as happily as any seven-year-old going to his first match.

“Well, what did the Connacht Tribune think of that,” he asked, knowing full well that the reply was going to be his liking. “Brilliant, just brilliant,” I answered rather obediently. “Well it was,” he replied and “maybe even a bit better”. At that moment, John Joe wasn’t gone 80 – his face and mind was that of a 10-year-old.

His mood captured the sheer joy of Corofin’s success last Sunday as friends, girlfriends, wives, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, congregated around their own hero. Everyone knew that one mighty obstacle had been overcome in the dream of winning a second club title – they’re not there yet, but they’re mightily close.

Gary Sice, Galway’s Gaelic football Sport Star of 2014, knew that one very difficult bridge had been crossed at Tullamore on Saturday, but typical of the Corofin attitude, there was to be no talk of celebration over the weekend.

“Today is a big day for us, but it’s still just another step along the way. We really put a massive effort, not only today, but since Christmas. A week of recovery is what we need now but there’ll be no talk of celebration,” said Sice.

He admitted to being ‘done’ at the end of the game: ‘done’ in the sense that he had nothing left to give and like the rest of his colleagues, every drop of sweat had been squeezed from his pores over the course of an intense hour’s play.

“It really was a very intense game of football – there was just no let up from start to finish. We never expected it to be any other way – St. Vincent’s were All-Ireland champions and hadn’t been beaten in over two years. We knew that a mighty effort was required,” said Sice.

Like many more of his team-mates, he was loud in his praise for Stephen Rochford and the meticulous preparation that went into this game, although the manager was quick to give the credit to the players.

“There’s a massive talent here in Corofin but that’s matched by a huge determination and honesty too. We didn’t fear St. Vincent’s today, but we did respect them: they had come through the landmine of the Dublin championship and had real quality through their ranks,” said Rochford.

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