St. Brendan's are also through to the quarter-finals

By JIM CARNEY St Brendan's ........................................ 1-15 Corofin .................................................. 1-8 PRIDE and passion carried the football men of Ballygar and Newbridge to a vital win over Corofin in this I.F.C. Group 3 fixture at Tuam Stadium last Saturday evening. A result that means St Brendan's qualify for the quarter-finals along with table-toppers An Spidéal, while Corofin and Salthill-Knocknacarra are out of the race for the Cotter Cup.Spiddal, making great progress from winning the Junior (A) Championship only two years ago, won their three Group fixtures in this I.F.C. St Brendan's were next on four points from two wins, over Salthill-Knocknacarra and Corofin; the Salthill club drew with Corofin, and those two teams lost their other matches.It spoke volumes for the St Brendan's character, heart and club pride that they recovered from a 1-12 to 0-7 defeat by An Spidéal to slam Salthill-Knocknacarra 1-17 to 0-11. Just to think about that â€â€ from scoring 0-7 to a whopping 1-17 in back-to-back Championship outings.Fast-forward to last Saturday: seven points down to Corofin well into the first half, after a goal by Tomás Costello, set up by Daithí Burke and Alan Molloy, helped a mostly youthful Corofin team to a lead of 1-5 to 0-1. But that didn't rattle the St Brendan's men. If anything, it served to bring out the best in them; they upped their workrate all over the field and a string of points by Thomas Coyne and Adrian Martin cut into Corofin's lead.Only a matter of timeWith each St Brendan's score late in the first half and in the third quarter, it felt only a matter of time before the issue was settled in favour of Ballygar-Newbridge but, remarkably, the sides were level with 15 minutes to go.Although John Reilly and Trevor Burke provided experience and typical Corofin spirit, it was probably asking too much of the younger brigade, many of them only a year out of Minor, and the physically stronger, more battle-hardened (at this level) St Brendan's were all over their young opponents in the final quarter. Indeed they outscored them 1-3 to 0-0 to the final five minutes, but by then it was over as a contest.Corofin had a lot of speed, in all areas, but the opposition were better able to win the 'hard ball' in the second half. Sure, it took them a long time to assert their superiority but, when it mattered most, scorer-in-chief Thomas Coyne only had to look at the posts and the umpire was getting ready to wave the white flag to signal point after point.At one crucial stage in the second half, Tom Coyne hit a fantastic point from play, a 45 and a difficult angled free right-footed from the left into the 'scoring goal' at the town end of Tuam Stadium. It was brilliant marksmanship, and thrilling to watch. There is a possibility, I believe, that St Brendan's may be without their ace marksman next time out, as he could be out of the country by then, which would be a pity for this great club, battling back in a huge effort to regain old glory. There was always a bit of magic about St Brendan's; their traditional brand of football was more Kerry than Ulster, and they simply love the game, but they've been up and down from senior to intermediate and senior again several times and in the past year, in particular, there was a danger they might not be a force in the Intermediate Championship with the present squad.AttitudeThat's changed, I think; this is a good St Brendan's team, with a marvellous attitude, and they're hard-driven by the men on the line, John Geraghty, Tomás Heavey and Paddy Flynn, three tough mentors who would never allow any of their players to go around with a swelled head. It wouldn't do if a lad on this team thought he was a swan if the sideline considered him to be more a goose!As for Corofin, it is good for these lads that they get competitive football at this time of year, for most and maybe all of them will hardly get to wear a senior jersey next month. It is not easy, of course, for clubs like Corofin, Caherlistrane and Salthill-Knocknacarra to field at both Senior and Intermediate, but in fairness to Corofin they did well here for three-quarters of the way and they didn't fail through lack of effort.Interestingly, a Corofin man did walk off the pitch a winner: Paul Wallace, the St Brendan's goalkeeper, who made one magnificent save to deny his native parish a seemingly certain goal.St Brendan's: P. Wallace; S. Crowe, D. Shaughnessy, P. Mahony; C. Delaney, T. Crowe, S. Naughton; D. O'Malley, D. Nolan; F. Ferguson, T. Coyne (0-10, eight frees, one 45), A. Martin (0-3); S. Lohan (1-1), C. Greally, E. Walsh. Subs used: K. Crehan, P. Cunningham (0-1), D. Heavey.Corofin: B. Power; E. Langan, A. Lawless, D. Collins; E. Fleming, J. Reilly, P. Coen; D. Burke, Alan Molloy; O. Mannion, R. Burke (0-3, two frees), Adrian Molloy (0-1); S. Silke, T. Costello (1-4, 0-3 frees), T. Burke. Subs used: K. Furey, G. Coen, J. Canney.Referee: Gerry Cahill.Herald Sport Man of the Match: Thomas Coyne (St Brendan's).