Corofin reclaimed the Frank Fox title for the first time since 2019 with a 1-11 to 1-9 win over Maigh Cuilinn in Pearse Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
It was a performance which was more dominant than the scoreline suggests with Kevin Johnson's side leading by seven with five minutes to play. Overloading the middle of the field right throughout the game the 2022 champions struggled to break the Corofin defence with star man Dessie Conneely being kept quiet by man of the match Liam Silke.
Conneely scored the first and last points of the game from frees but was kept scoreless other than that. Corofin put Silke man marking the Maigh Cuilinn sharpshooter knowing if he was kept quiet then Corofin would have a fantastic chance at winning. Silke on the other hand scored two from play himself with his driving run from the 65 also setting up Tony Gill’s goal to effectively kill off the game.
Don Connellan’s side were hit with a huge loss when Seán Kelly had to pull out through injury and were he to have been fit, the game could easily have ended up differently. Peter Cooke was easily Maigh Cuilinn's best player, scoring several points from distance whenever his side broke past that Corofin rearguard.
Gavin Burke was left as the free man in the Corofin back line for the game and despite giving some lovely kick passes and doing the right thing with the ball every time, Maigh Cuilinn’s mistake was to leave him free for the entirety of the game. Dylan Wall at centre forward had one of his best games in a green and yellow jersey, driving at the Maigh Cuilinn defence everytime he got the ball he scored his sides first point of the game and caused untold damage for the opposition.
With Gary Sice winning his 13th county title at 38 years of age, he put in another incredible performance with the dead ball as well as a fabulous point from wide on the left in the first half. Cathal Silke, Michael Lundy, Michael Farragher and Ronan Steede were also winning their 10th title with the younger players such as Tony Gill, Brian Cogger, Patrick Egan and Jack McCabe breaking through to win their first.
Younger players such as these have always been the driving force in Corofin for the older ones. Both Lundy and Farragher have made a fantastic contribution coming off the bench in the last three games, but despite their performances are still being kept out of the team.
This will be a very sweet win for Corofin manager Kevin Johnson. He has now won county titles in Mayo, Sligo and Galway but coming in as an outside manager into a side like Corofin during a transitional period would prove difficult for many; luckily for him the conveyor belt of talent in the north Galway club has made it a lot easier to coach his side to play the way he wants.
Corofin will now play the winners of Ballina Stephenites and Fulham Irish in the Connacht semi-final in two weeks time.
