Corofin 1-11

Maigh Cuilinn 1-9

John Fallon reports from Pearse Stadium

COROFIN CAPTURED THEIR 22nd Galway SFC title and first since 2019 when they dethroned champions Maigh Cuilinn at Pearse Stadium.

Corofin pulled away in the third quarter after the sides had been level seven times and withstood a late rally from the reigning Connacht champions.

Maigh Cuilinn played with the wind in the opening half but Corofin went in leading at half-time by 0-7 to 0-6 after a tight opening half where there was never more than a point between the sides.

Champions Maigh Cuilinn suffered a big blow beforehand with the loss of the injured Galway captain Sean Kelly.

The sides exchanged points six times in the opening half before Kieran Molloy edged Corofin in front with a superb point in stoppage time.

Maigh Cuilinn didn’t register a wide in the opening and Peter Cooke and Owen Gallagher picked off two good points each, with skipper Dessie Conneely landing a free from the left and James McLaughlin also scoring one from distance.

Veteran Gary Sice kicked a free and one from play for Corofin, with Dylan Wall, Tony Gill, Liam Silke and Patrick Egan also hit the target before Molloy edged them in front just before the interval.

McLaughlin tied the sides for the seventh time six minutes after the restart but then Corofin took over. Sice kicked a couple of frees to put two between them for the first time and then the 39-year-old steered over a free from 30 metres on the touchline.

A good turnover by Patrick Egan as Peter Cooke bore down on goal led to a swift counter-attack which ended with Liam Silke pointing to make it 0-11 to 0-7 after 45 minutes.

They took another major step towards the title five minutes later when a surging run from Liam Silke picked out Tony Gill and he dispatched the ball to the net from close range to lead by double scores at 1-11 to 0-7 with ten minutes remaining.

Former Offaly player Johnny Moloney pulled back a point five minutes from time and then set up an exciting finale when he finished a good move with a shot low to the net in stoppage time.

That left a goal between them but Maigh Cuilinn couldn’t save their title with a late 20-metre free from Conneely flying over the bar.

Scorers for Corofin: Gary Sice 0-5 (0-4f), Tony Gill 1-1, Liam Silke 0-2, Dylan Wall 0-1, Patrick Egan 0-1, Kieran Molloy 0-1.

Scorers for Maigh Cuilinn: Johnny Moloney 1-1, Peter Cooke 0-2, Owen Gallagher 0-2, Dessie Conneely 0-2f, James McLaughlin 0-2.

Corofin

1 Bernard Power

2 Liam Silke, 6 Conor Cunningham, 3 Cathal Silke

12 Kieran Molloy, 5 Dylan McHugh

4 Gavin Burke, 30 Ciaran Brady, 8 Patrick Egan

7 Brian Cogger, 18 Dylan Wall, 11 Tony Gill

13 Darragh Silke, 14 Gary Sice, 15 Jack McCabe

Substitutes:

• 19 Mike Farragher for D Silke (37)
• 22 Michael Lundy for McCabe (37)
• 23 Glen McHugh for Ciaran Brady (58)
• 19 Martin Farragher for Wall (61)

Maigh Cuilinn

1 Andrew Power

2 Conor Corcoran, 5 Eoghan Kelly, 4 Neil Mulcahy

17 Johnny Moloney, 6 David Wynne, 7 Aidan Claffey

20 James McLaughlin, 10 Ger Davoren

8 Peter Cooke, 9 Tomas Cleary, 13 Michael Maughan

11 Owen Gallagher, 12 Paul Kelly, 15 Dessie Conneely

Substitutes:

• 18 Micheal O’Reilly for Maughan (33)
• 19 Donal Cox for Cleary (45)
• 14 Neil Walsh for P Kelly (58)
• 23 Mark Lydon for Claffey (63)

Referee: Thomas Murphy (Annaghdown).

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