Gill goal crucial as Corofin wrestle Galway crown away from Moycullen
STILL GOT IT: Gary Sice of Corofin is tackled by Aidan Claffey of Moycullen. Pic: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Three years is some stretch in Corofin. The wait is over.
Kevin Johnson’s side secured the Galway SFC with a superb performance against Moycullen in Pearse Stadium.
It means the Sligo native has won three county titles in three counties adding to his success with Tourlestrane and Ballintubber.
“To Kevin and his management team, we’re not the easiest group to manage. There is a lot of egos involved, it is not too easy to coach us. Thanks for this year. You put confidence back in the team, put hunger back in the team,” declared captain Dylan McHugh in his victorious speech.
Moycullen were without Galway captain Sean Kelly, ruled out before throw-in due to a hamstring injury. They also came up against an exceptional outfit who have seamlessly integrated a victorious U19 team with their All-Ireland winning stalwarts.
They were significant underdogs. They were without intercounty star Ian Burke and Jason Leonard, their best player in the opening rounds.
They were up against the reigning Connacht champions. They are still Corofin.
Here was an absorbing slow-burner. An error-strewn opening ten minutes developed to become a quality contest. Moycullen captain and leading scorer Dessie Connelly faced his toughest test yet with Liam Silke beside him but started brightly to win a free and convert it for the opening score.
From there he was cancelled out entirely in a matchup that summarised the game. Connelly did not score from play. Silke scored two points and created a goal.
It was the same wintery conditions and heavy pitch that has hosted recent club deciders with a crucial degree of class that was sorely lacking elsewhere. Peter Cooke and Tony Gill exchanged superb long-range scores. Owen Gallagher drove hard at defenders all day, yielding two points and two assists.
Cooke’s second score of the day, an outside-of-the-boot beauty from just inside the 45, left the sides level.
It fell to Kieran Molloy to respond at the other end in precisely the same fashion, collecting a Cathal Silke pass outside the 45 and immediately unleashing a right-footed effort over. Corofin headed for the dressing room 0-7 to 0-6 up having played into the breeze.
In the first half, Moycullen’s conversion was a perfect 100%. They started the second with one point from five shots. That imprecision allowed Corofin to stretch seven in front thanks to some driving runs from Conor Cunningham and outstanding free-taking by Sice.
The final score in that dominant spell embodied every element of this club’s greatness. Cooke carried down the middle and was turned over by rising midfielder Patrick Egan.
Dylan Wall sent a terrific kick inside to Mike Farragher who had Liam Silke coming on a support line. A sweeping move completed to make it 0-11 to 0-7.
Then came the killer blow. Another penetrating Liam Silke run yielded a Tony Gill goal. Former Offaly captain Johnny Moloney hit back with a green flag of his own in response but it was too little, too late. Corofin are champions once again.
Gary Sice 0-5 (4 frees), Tony Gill 1-1, Liam Silke 0-2, Kieran Molloy 0-1, Patrick Egan 0-1, Dylan Wall 0-1.
Johnny Moloney 1-1, Owen Gallagher 0-2, Peter Cooke 0-2, Dessie Connelly 0-2 (2 frees), James McLaughlin 0-2.
B Power; L Silke, C Cunningham, C Silke; K Molloy, D McHugh, G Burke; P Egan, C Brady; B Cogger, D Wall, T Gill; D Silke, G Sice, J McCabe.
M Farragher for D Silke and M Lundy for McCabe (38), G McHugh for C Brady (58), M Farragher for Wall (60.
A Power; C Corcoran, E Kelly, N Mulcahy; J Moloney, D Wynne, A Claffey; J McLaughlin, G Davoren; P Cooke, T Clarke, M Moghan; P Kelly, O Gallagher, D Connelly.
M O’Reilly for Moghan (34), D Cox for Clarke (55), N Walsh for P Kelly (58), M Lydon for Claffey (63).
T Murphy (Annaghdown)
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