Corofin aiming for a fourth consecutive senior title

The Galway senior football championship final this Sunday at Pearse Stadium (3.30pm ) sees hot favourites Corofin take on 2012 champions Salthill-Knocknacarra.

The north board men are aiming for four-in-a-row of county senior titles having been in ascendancy in the county since 2013.

The Corofin club at senior level is on an unprecedented run of success in the county since the great Tuam Stars team of the 1950s, and a good few of this current squad of players have won seven senior titles in the past ten years.

Val Daly has been in charge of Salthill-Knocknacarra for the past two years and he will be looking to big performances in defence from the likes of team captain Conor Halloran, Finian Hanley, Gavin Duffy, Ruairdhí McTiernan and Jack Killeen to keep tabs on the highly rated Corofin attackers.

Up front the city team will need the likes of Sean Armstrong, Robert Finnerty, Marcus McDonnacha, Tadhg Haran and the exciting John Maher to have packed their scoring boots to kick a winning tally against an experienced Corofin rearguard marshalled by the likes of Kieran Fitzgerald, Liam and Cathal Silke, Ciaran McGrath and impressive youngster Kieran Molloy.

Salthill have genuine injury concerns over Gary Cox (hamstring ) and Conor Healy and talented wing-forward Paul Butler is unfortunately unavailable after knee surgery.

Tom Kelly, who is part of the Salthill management team, says their panel needs to produce a top level performance if they are to match the current champions.

"We will need a big step up in intensity and overall work-rate from our last two games against Caherlistrane and Cortoon if we are going to be able to compete with Corofin.

" They are the pacesetters in club football in the county for the past three years or more and we will need a huge display from 20 of our players this weekend if we are going to be realistic contenders. Corofin were All-Ireland club champions two years ago, and we know that we will need to improve a lot this Sunday if we are going to stop them winning another county title."

Martin Farragher a doubt for Corofin

Corofin have a major injury concern in Martin Farragher who missed their semi-final win over Mountbellew with a hamstring problem.

Team manager Kevin O'Brien is likely to give Farragher as much time as possible to prove his fitness before the weekend. However if he is unavailable, as appears likely, Barry O'Donovan, who did well the last day, or the returned Micheál Lundy will probably see game time.

Very few people expect Salthill, who were All-Ireland club champions back in 2006, to match Corofin this Sunday.

Most neutrals would like to see a change at the top of club football in the county and will be hoping Corofin take their eye off the ball and don't bring their famed work-rate, pace and slick inter-passing to Pearse Stadium in three days' time.

If that happens then Salthill have a realistic chance of causing what would be a big upset, but if Corofin show up with their A game and produce the form they showed in a 10 minute patch against Mountbellew at the start of the second half in their semi-final win, then is impossible to predict anything but another Corofin success.

 

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