Brian Stack shines as St Brigid’s outclass Corofin in Connacht final
DIFFERENCE-MAKER: Brian Cogger of Corofin in action against Brian Stack of St Brigid's. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
After the final whistle sounded, a mob formed in the middle of Dr Hyde Park as St Brigid’s bounced off each other in elation. Nearby Brian Stack generously pawned off his gloves to an eager child and then collapsed on his back, utterly spent.
The only reason he did not have enough energy to join the celebrations is because he poured every drop into a deserved five-point triumph.
Ben O’Carroll was named Man of the Match after firing 1-7 but the difference in the trenches on Sunday was Stack. The defender was the spider that spun a web Corofin could not escape from.
“He just has a presence about him, he plays for the team. He trains the same as everyone else. He leads from the front,” said victorious manager Jerome Stack post-match.
The All-Star nominee did not start their semi-final victory over Mohill due to a knee injury.
“A lot of people when they saw the game here where he went off said he would play no more football this year. That is not Brian Stack though. He is a different man. He is made of different stuff.” Stack started on the in-form Gary Sice and bested that contest.
Later as Corofin looked to ignite a comeback and came within two, it was the number three who carried from deep in his own half, fed his brother Ronan and demanded a return before curling over a left-footed point.
Playing their fifth match in a row at this venue, St Brigid’s looked at home from the off. They finished with a 77% conversion and monstered the Galway kingpins during the opening half hour, sourcing every score from a turnover.
For whatever reason, Corofin struggled to get going. Darragh Silke kicked a ball down the line when it wasn’t on. Dylan McHugh clipped a wide, Liam Silke fouled O’Carroll for a free pulled wide and Jack McCabe handed him another opportunity immediately after.
O’Carroll’s opening score was a shot dropped short that bounced over but by the 14th minute he had 1-2 on the board thanks to the free and another penalty.
Paul McGrath was a thorn in Corofin’s side all day. His driving runs produced several frees as they persistently came down on the wrong side of Barry Judge, with the free count finishing with ten more in Brigid’s favour.
It was the wing-back’s creative pass that saw Alan Daly felled for the penalty.
That stoked some sort of reaction. Conor Cunnigham burst forward for the first of several penetrating solos and smashed an effort off the crossbar. Soon after Darragh Silke landed their first point from a 45-metre kick.
Despite their struggles, Corofin still carved out two moments of class either side of the turnaround. Liam Silke started a move by winning the ball in front of O’Carroll for a free and finished it at the back post after a Michael Lundy handpass. 1-6 to 1-2 down, they emerged and palmed another soon after.
This time Mike Farragher set up Dylan McHugh for a palmed effort.
Now Jerome Stack’s side turned their attention to Bernard Power’s kickout.
An O’Carroll and outside of the boot beauty restored their advantage, before Eddie Nolan and Shane Cunnane came to the fore in the middle. Ruaidhri Fallon picked off a kickout and sent it straight over.
Sice struck a free and another from play in the final quarter but before the end Corofin were forced into dropping balls into the square and speculative shots. In truth, they had been comprehensively outplayed all day.
Afterwards, McGrath climbed the steps alongside joint-captain Mark Daly.
“This journey started back in November last year when we had our first meeting,” he said, looking over towards the green and red group still revelling on the field.
“We went and paid for our gym programmes and put our heads down over Christmas. It has been a year’s commitment since then, lads have left everything on the pitch.”
They advance to an All-Ireland semi-final against the Munster champions.
Ben O’Carroll 1-7 (1-0 pen, 0-4 free), Bobby Nugent 0-3 (3 frees), Ruaidhri Fallon 0-1, Brian Stack 0-1, Ciaran Sugrue 0-1.
Dylan McHugh 1-0, Liam Silke 1-0, Gary Sice 0-2 (1 free), Jack McCabe 0-2, Darragh Silke 0-1 45.
C Sheehy; R Dolan, B Stack, P Frost; R Fallon, R Stack, A Daly; E Nolan, S Cunnane; C Hand, C Sugrue, P McGrath; B O’Carroll, B Derwin, B Nugent.
J Cunningham for Hand (52), C Gleeson for Derwin (58), S Trundle for McGrath (62).
B Power, L Silke, R Mahon, G Burke; D McHugh, C Cunningham, B Cogger; P Egan, C Brady; M Farragher, D Wall, D Silke; G Sice, M Lundy, J McCabe.
K Molloy for Wall (half-time), C Newell for D Silke (44), D Burke for Farragher (48), G McHugh for Burke (54), T Gill for Egan (58).
B Judge (Sligo)
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