CONNACHT SFC FINAL Corofin 0-11 Eastern Harps 0-6:SHADES OF a decade ago as Corofin yesterday successfully completed another Connacht championship in rude health.
Ten years ago, the north Galway club's steady drive for glory presaged an unforgettable year for maroon football. In the coming weeks, Ray Silke's gang are due to meet for a reunion but after that the attention is going to be on this new generation of Corofin footballers.
On a bitter day in Salthill, the local team bossed Eastern Harps from the beginning until the end. On this evidence, and on their provincial form, Corofin pride themselves on being the last word in dependability. The steadiness of their back six has long been noted but for this match, the defensive lines had a relatively quiet day, such was the ferocious work rate set by the attackers.
They worried the Sligo champions out of all shape and composure, limiting the visitors to a lone free from veteran marksman Paul Taylor in the first half. The signs of a long afternoon for Harps were there in the first five minutes, when, despite the presence of a consummate ball carrier in Brendan Phillips, the Sligo men were having difficulty in completing three consecutive passes.
Corofin looked fit and solid and once in possession, they moved the ball at speed, with Alan Burke running riot along the left wing, showing the way by knocking over the first point of the game and earning a merited ovation when he departed the field with seconds left to play.
He never tried to take too much out of the ball and starred in what could have been the score of the game, tearing through the Harps' defence before setting Alan O'Donovan in on goal in the 48th minute. O'Donovan had nothing but goal on his mind and looked as surprised as everyone else when his attempt clattered against the post. That strike marked an intense burst of frustration for O'Donovan, who fired another one-on-one chance straight at Brendan McHugh and then curled another shot at goal against the right-hand post.
In a tighter game, such chances might have been costly but Corofin were 0-10 to 0-3 to the good with 20 minutes remaining.
Gary Sice, who normally operates at half-back for Galway, conducts his business at right-half forward for his club and his fine point, just seconds into the second half, seemed to erase any real plans of a Sligo comeback. They have free-taking options in Sice and O'Donovan and enjoyed a good return to form of '98 veteran Jason Killeen, who pitched in with two points from play and adds another dimension to their attack.
Joe Canney is a fast and crafty full forward and with midfielder Aidan Donnellan, another man from the 10-year-old vintage, always likely to land a point or two, Corofin have options. If they have a weakness, it is they so far lack the firepower to really go to town on the scoreboard. Against that, they give few cheap scores away.
After celebrating in the damp of Salthill, Alan Burke took time to consider what is essentially a brand new All-Ireland campaign in February and admitted the achievement of 10 years ago does carry relevance in the dressingroom. "Ten years ago Jason started full back. Today he started full forward. It is the likes of those lads we look up to. I have been training for a year now and it is a long haul.
"It is 10 years too since we last won the All-Ireland and there is probably a bit of pressure in it. We try to put it to the back of our minds. We are a different generation. We won the county title without playing great but we knew our potential within the camp. Today we did go through the gears a bit but we know we are going to have to do more if we are going to go further."
Manager Jimmy Sice declared himself a worried man until the final whistle. And it was true Harps never quit. It must have been a terribly disappointing outing for the Sligo club, who travelled in big numbers for this final. It was not so much they played badly: Corofin simply suffocated their approach from the beginning. Just working the ball into the final third of the field was a laborious task and there was little opportunity for the Taylor brothers to shine.
Trailing 0-6 to 0-1 at half-time, they needed a goal to make a contest of the match and although they did try to spook young Bernard Power with a couple of hoofed balls in around the Corofin square, the goalkeeper took them down with supreme comfort.
"Bernard has come on in leaps and bounds, he is only young," Sice said. "Looking at our defence, they are seasoned campaigners. We have worked hard in training and that defended us. To be quite honest our ambition at the outset was to win the first round of the championship and from then on, every game was like a final. We will take the next step and see where we go from there."
"There" suddenly looked a lot more inviting as word filtered through that Nemo Rangers, the eternal kingpins of this competition, had been sensationally beaten in Munster. It means one less giant on the landscape when Corofin return to action in February. The '98 gang will have been well toasted and snapped by then.
COROFIN:B Power; G Delaney, K Fitzgerald, K McGrath; M Comer, D Burke, A Burke (0-1); G Higgins, A Donnellan (0-1); G Sice (0-2, one free), T Burke, D Hanly; J Killeen (0-2), J Canney (0-2), A O'Donovan (0-3, one free). Subs: K Comer for T Burke (45 mins), D Morris for J Killeen (50 mins), T Goggins for A Burke (59 mins), S Monaghan for G Sice (61 mins).
EASTERN HARPS:B McHugh; R Donovan, S King, K Cryan (0-1); P McGovern, B Phillips, K Gallagher; T Taylor, P Grady; M Doddy, J Rafferty, T Cryan (0-1, 50); R Hannon (0-1 free), P Taylor (0-2, frees), D O'Grady.
Subs:S Gallagher for R Hannon (28 mins), K Phillips for P Grady (42 mins), K Carty (0-1) for T Cryan (51 mins), P Rafferty for P McGovern (57 mins).
Referee:V Neary (Mayo).
