GALWAY SFC FINAL: Corofin 0-9 Mountbellew/Maylough 0-9:ANOTHER DAY OUT for Galway football. Joe Bergin faced more than a distance of 50 metres when he stood with the football in the 59th minute of the Claregalway Hotel county championship final, back in the heartland of Tuam for the first time in eight years.
Bergin was a child the last time his home club of Mountbellew-Moylough appeared at this stage: Val Daly was captain that year and after raising the trophy in darkness in a match played in deep December, he concluded his speech by wishing everyone a happy Christmas.
This year’s championship will at least stretch into mid-autumn thanks to Bergin’s terrific kick, which earned the underdogs another day out against reigning champions Corofin. The decision to bring the final back to the old home of Galway football was vindicated here. Tuam Stadium may resemble a museum piece in comparison to modern GAA stadiums but it was full of atmosphere and with the Artane Boys Band booked for half-time entertainment and the novelty of Mountbellew’s appearance, it was a perfect fit.
Among the guests was Galway manager Joe Kernan, flanked by his new selectors, All-Ireland winning midfielder Seán Ó Dómhnaill and Tom Naughton, the Annaghdown stalwart who won an All-Star in 1974.
This match will not have revealed much that the two local men did not already know. With the replay likely to be in a fortnight, the most immediate consequence is Kernan will bring a squad to New York for the FBD final without his pick from these teams.
Corofin soaked up the match day disruption of seeing Kieran Comer, the team captain, withdrawing due to flu by replacing him with one of the many Burke lads the parish seems to produce at will. Trevor, no stranger to big time games, played until half-time, when the management decided to play their captain, flu or not.
This was a vintage Corofin performance; measured, rarely spectacular and always opportunistic. When they sit down to review the reasons why they failed to win a final in which they dominated possession, the first 10 minutes – when they blasted five wides while Mountbellew were still getting used to the occasion – will stand out as the chief reason.
Mountbellew began by deploying Bergin at full forward but he got little change out of his county team-mate Kieran Fitzgerald and it soon became evident they needed his ball winning skills in the centre of the field.
Mountbellew did struggle to get their hands on the ball but when they did so, they moved the ball with admirable poise and nerve. Poor in the league, they have looked sharp and brave in the summer championship and maintained that form here.
They had a reliable free-taker in Joseph Meehan and they are full of smart, imaginative running, with full back Patrick Gardiner landing the point of the game in the first half after a thrilling break from his own defence.
But for all that, the forward line failed to score from play and they needed an excellent save from goalkeeper Brian Donnellan to deny Joe Canney a goal just before the break.
There were several occasions when it looked as if all the experience and know-how Corofin brought would see them through. When Kieran Comer tapped a 45th minute free and Joe Canney added another two minutes later, Mountbellew could have been forgiven for fading. But their belief never dipped and six minutes later, they earned another free which Meehan tapped over.
Corofin broke again with typical authority: Alan Burke won a free and then ghosted ahead of the play to receive the ball from the restart, winning a free in front of the Mountbellew goals. With five minutes left, that score would have been critical but Comer, doubtlessly struggling with his ailment, chipped his free across the face of the posts.
Mountbellew responded to that lifeline and after Bergin duly landed the heroic kick, it was inevitable the full-time whistle would sound soon after.
So no trip to the Big Apple for the county men and a busy fortnight for both teams.
COROFIN:D Morris; G Delaney, K Fitzgerald, C Silke; D Keane, D Burke, T Goggins; G Higgins (0-2), A Donnellan; K McGrath (0-2), A Burke (0-1), G Sice; A O'Donovan (0-2, free, 50), J Canney (0-1), T Burke. Subs: K Comer (0-1 free) for T Burke, Justin Burke for A O'Donovan, D Hanley for for K McGrath (52 mins.
MOUNTBELLEW/MOYLOUGH:B Donnellan; M Geraghty, P Gardiner (0-1), D McHugh; J Moore (0-1), P Gardiner, G Sweeney; C Kenny (0-1 free), C Colleran; J Meehan (0-5 frees), T Wall, S Boyle; S Sweeney, J Bergin (0-1 free), D Neary. Subs: E Wall for D Neary (46 mins)
Referee:P Ó Cionnáin.
