Corofin turn on the style after interval

Jason Leonard grabs solo goal

At Tuam Stadium

AN impressive second-half surge from Corofin proved decisive at Tuam Stadium last Saturday evening, as Gary Delaney’s outfit outscored Mountbellew-Moylough by 1-9 to six points to see off their rivals and claim a second victory in their Senior Championship campaign.

Trailing by 0-11 to 0-10 at half-time, the victors emerged from the dressing room a different side after the interval, showing more purpose and urgency in their play. Indeed, within 90 seconds of the restart, they wrestled back the lead with a Dylan McHugh two-pointer and, from there, they never looked back.

Two minutes later, Darragh Silke added another before Jason Leonard took off on a strong run and finished to the Mountbellew-Moylough net for a 35th minute goal. Six points ahead, 1-14 to 0-11, they controlled the contest as only they can for the rest of this fixture.

Liam Silke kicked a two-pointer in between two singles from Mountbellew-Moylough's Ciarán Mulhern (play and free) to leave it 1-16 to 0-13 at the three-quarter mark, although Corofin could have been further ahead were it not for a timely Billy Mannion intervention on a Darragh Silke goal-bound effort on 46 minutes.

As it was, Corofin did kick another three points through Vinny Gill, Killian Joyce and Darragh Silke (free) in the final quarter and they possibly should have added two more goals, only for Jack McCabe and Ross Coen – two in-form players – to surprisingly spurn goal opportunities.

It reflected Corofin’s dominance, with Mountbellew-Moylough only conjuring four points – singles from Patrick Kelly and Ciaran Mulhern, both frees, and a two-pointer from Leo Donnellan – in the closing stages.

It was a far cry from the fluency they showed in the first half. In this period, they stood toe to toe with Corofin, as John Daly, Fionn Colleran, Donnellan, Brian Noone, and Colin Ryan (two) registered a plethora of quality points while goalkeeper Michael Foley tallied five points from dead balls – two two-point frees and a ‘45.

Foley also pulled off a heroic save when smothering an effort from Dylan Wall on 22 minutes and, it appeared, the stars were aligning for Damien McHugh’s charges.

For their part, Corofin did start brightly and led 0-7 to 0-3 after the first quarter – Coen, McCabe (3), McHugh (two-pointer) and Darragh Silke scoring – but in the second quarter they were outscored eight points to three. Darragh Silke, single and two-pointer, was the sole Corofin provider.

It’s difficult to assess what happened to Mountbellew-Moylough after the interval, given there was plenty to admire before the break.

Yes, Corofin upped the ante – Gill and Coen bringing loads of pace – but Mountbellew-Moylough would have anticipated this.

At any rate, Corofin, who face a winless Killannin in their final group game, advance to the quarter-finals, while Mountbellew-Moylough will seek to secure second place in Group 1 with a result against Claregalway next day out to secure a prime preliminary quarter-final berth.

COROFIN: T. Healy; C. Silke, L. Silke (0-2, 0-2 score), B. Coen; D. McHugh (0-4, two 0-2 scores), V. Gill (0-1), A. Looney; C. Brady, S. Canavan; R. Coen (0-1), D. Silke (0-7, 0-1 free, two 0-2 scores), J. Leonard (1-0); K. Joyce (0-1), J. McCabe (0-3), D. Wall. Subs: M. Lundy, for Wall, 42 mins; R. Steede, for Canavan 48 mins; C. Cunningham, for Brady 57 mins; S. Canavan, for C. Silke, 60+2 mins.

MOUNTBELLEW-MOYLOUGH: M. Foley (0-5, 2 tpf, 45); A. Colleran, B. Mannion, J. Foley; B. Noone (0-1), J. Daly (0-1), F. Colleran (0-1); M. Barrett, S. Kelly; O. O’Reilly, T. Shields, L. Donnellan (0-3, 1tp); C. Mulhern (0-3, 2f), C. Ryan (0-2), P. Mannion. Subs: M. Burke for P. Mannion, inj. (21 mins.); P. Kelly (0-1) for M. Barrett (HT); S. Fallon for O’Reilly (48 mins.); M. Barrett for C. Ryan (58 mins.).

REFEREE: Christopher Ryan.

HERALD SPORT MAN OF THE MATCH: Shared by Vinny Gill and Ross Coen (Corofin).