Corofin charge to Connacht club title

Corofin (Galway) 2-14 Charlestown (Mayo) 0-7

Kieran Comer led the Corofin charge as the Galway outfit captured their fifth AIB Connacht Club SFC title in cold and crisp conditions in Charlestown this afternoon.

Comer bagged 1-7 as his side blazed an early trail and hosts Charlestown struggled to find their feet.

Comer set the game rolling in a positive fashion for the visitors with a well-worked third minute goal, firing past Charlestown goalkeeper John Casey.

Joe Canney provided the assist for Comer's goal, setting the tone as Corofin claimed back-to-back provincial crowns.

They were 1-1 to 0-0 ahead by the 11th minute with Comer adding a point, and the Mayo champions eventually opened their scoring account six minutes later thanks to a Paul Mulligan score.

Corofin responded with scores from Ciaran McGrath and Comer, pushing themselves into a 1-3 to 0-1 advantage nine minutes before the interval.

Gerry Keane's side were dominant in the midfield sector with Greg Higgins doing an excellent man-marking job on Mayo senior star Tom Parsons.

However, Charlestown showed some signs of resurgence before half-time with points from Mulligan and Richard Haran which cut the gap to a goal at 1-4 to 0-4.

Canney started the second half with a fisted point, and Comer soon moved Corofin into a more comfortable lead.

Half-back Gary Sice put a gloss on the victory with a 60th minute goal. Canney supplied the goal-scoring pass following some neat interplay which saw Corofin build from the back.

Parsons notched a point late on for the hosts, but scores from Kieran McGrath and Shane Monaghan in the depths of injury-time ensured a 13-point win for the Galway men and an All-Ireland semi-final clash with Ulster champions St. Gall's.

COROFIN: D Morris; G Delaney, D Burke, C Silke; D Keane, T Goggins, G Sice (1-0); G Higgins (0-1), A Donnellan; M Farragher (0-1), R Steede, C McGrath (0-1); K Comer (1-7, 0-4f), J Canney (0-2), A Burke.

Subs used: S Monaghan (0-1) for Keane (half-time), A O’Donovan (0-1) for Farragher (53 mins), Trevor Burke for Ronan Steede (56).

CHARLESTOWN: J Casey; E Casey, D McMeel, D Caffrey; D Higgins, K Deignan, C Maye; A Higgins, T Parsons (0-1); M Mulvanny, M Caffrey, R Haran (0-3, 0-1f); P Mulligan (0-3, 0-1f), T Mulligan, O Conway.

Subs used: B O'Connell for Conway, S Morris for Maye (both 41 mins), M Divilly for M Caffrey (53), S Lenaghan for E Casey, E Gallagher for Mulvanny (both 58).