Tuam Stars one hour away from completing unfinished business

By JIM CARNEY Tuam Stars .2-6 Corofin .0-9 AS the Johnny Logan Eurovision song put it (back in 1980), what's another year? When Tuam Stars lost the 2011 County final to Corofin it couldn't really have been any consolation to them that their most loyal supporters would've pleaded with them to be patient, that their time would come. But in sport, as in life, a year can pass quickly and here's the same Tuam team going for the Frank Fox Cup again â€â€ they're only an hour away from the title and the glory that slipped agonisingly from their grasp last October. Big changes elsewhere this year: Corofin, the defending champions, winners of the title 14 times, including a magnificent record of eleven wins since the turn into the 1990s, are no longer the great force they were; last Sunday was probably the end of an era, a golden era by any standards in any sport.[private] The lights are going down on Killererin too, great County champions in 1999, 2004, 2007 and 2010. And Salthill-Knocknacarra are on the way back, impressively. Only two titles in the last two decades, 1990 and 2005, but in both of those years they reached the All-Ireland Club Championship final, taking home to the seaside the Andy Merrigan Cup on the evening of St Patrick's Day, 2006. This year they hadn't set off any fireworks until last Sunday when they scored a three-goal win over Killererin, 3-10 to 0-10, to make it Tuam Stars vs Salthill-Knocknacarra in the County final coming up in early or mid October â€â€ date and venue to be decided by the Football Board. It's a fascinating prospect. Tuam, champions 24 times but with no title since 1994, will be bookies' favourites to bridge that gap but their management team of Jimmy O'Dea and Kevin Reidy (joint-managers), Paul O'Rourke and Seán Rhatigan will be concerned that despite playing some brilliant football on Sunday, their team hit only 1-3 in each half and went scoreless for 24 minutes of the second half, from the 8th to the 32nd minutes. Indeed it was remarkable and almost inexplicable that for the first 28 minutes of the match and Corofin still scoreless, you didn't feel it was over as a contest. Tuam really should have been up to 1-5 or 1-6 at that stage, rather than the 1-3 they had on the board with only two minutes of the first half left. Then Corofin got going to hit three points (one off a free) and bring it back to a more manageable three points by the interval, 1-3 to 0-3, but it was clear that Corofin were struggling with the pace of the game. Tuam had the 'legs' for fast football; Corofin didn't, which was understandable with so many miles on the clock. In fairness to the Stars, one of the people closest to the team made a great point in his analysis of the game, that after losing last year's County final and this year's first round of the Championship to Corofin, Tuam could not be in full flow from the start last Sunday; it was a tough test for them, a test of character, and to their huge credit they passed it splendidly. At the end of the day, it was a massive result for a team that so admirably held their nerve after the disappointment of last year's final and faced into this year's campaign determined to stick together and complete unfinished business. It's even more satisfying for them now that they've risen to the challenge of denying Corofin a three-in-a-row in eleven months of Championship football. They were the better team all through on Sunday, and Paul Doherty's clever run from midfield and fisted goal in the first minute of the second half, adding to a fantastic goal scored by his younger brother Conor in the 17th minute of the first half, made it a lead of 2-3 to 0-3 and the Stars were again on their way to victory. Again, to their credit, Corofin fought back and cut the deficit to two points late in the game, 2-5 to 0-9, but Tuam sub John Ross Bodkin brought his team's long scoreless spell to an end with a pointed free in the second minute of injury-time. In their last two outings, Corofin struggled to hold off St James's (in the quarter-finals) and, before that, Cortoon Shamrocks. It was mainly their great heart and pride in the jersey that kept them going, and for those matches too they'd lost several younger players, working abroad for the summer, talented footballers such as Michael Farragher, Ronan Steede, Justin Burke and Alan Molloy, while Daithí Burke also has big commitments on the hurling fields. It was a huge loss to Corofin that such experienced players as Aidan Donnellan and Kieran Comer stepped off the big stage after last year's final â€â€ two wonderful club servants for more than 20 years â€â€ and it was loyalty to the jersey that brought Kieran back as a second-half sub on Sunday. A few others will have huge decisions to make now, but of every Corofin footballer from the County Championship victory of 1991 to last Sunday it can be said, loudly, that they've been magnificent clubmen and they owe nothing to their club. Rather, those men themselves are owed a huge debt of gratitude by their club and parish. The young Corofin men who will keep the flag flying into the future can learn from the example set by David Morris on Sunday. In the dying minutes, anxious to put his shoulder to the attacking wheel, the goalkeeper who won the Fox Cup for his team in last year's final with that never-to-be-forgotten penalty save ten minutes from the end, sensationally abandoned his goalkeeping duties and went up the other end of the field in a brave bid to pull the game out of the fire. It was a courageous act, sheer will-to-win, and he got on the ball twice, close to the Tuam goal, but the winners' defence â€â€ outstanding in the second half and superbly led by their captain Tony Costello â€â€ did not yield an inch. Corner-backs Darragh O'Rourke and Aonghus Tierney were also exceptionally good for Tuam, and goalkeeper Jonathan Trayers is having a great year. In general, the defence as a unit really did their stuff after the early relief of Corofin missing two goal chances, while further out the field the Doherty brothers took their goals brilliantly. For Tuam's first 'major' Donal Marley started a move that ended with Aonghus Tierney putting Conor Doherty through on a blistering run to almost rip the net out at the town end of the pitch, while for the second goal Jamie Murphy's sideline kick was delivered to his cousin Paul Doherty with stunning accuracy and Paul, racing through from midfield with a hand up to signal his intentions, timed the run so well he got a perfect connection on the punch that sent the ball into the net from close range. There will be plenty of improvement that Tuam can find for the final, but it will be a happy training ground for the next couple of weeks. Tuam Stars: J. Trayers; D. O'Rourke, I. McGough, A. Tierney; T. Costello, captain, G. O'Donnell, D. Marley; D. Connern, P. Doherty (1-0); S. Curtin (0-2, frees), C. Doherty (1-0), N. Quinn; J. Murphy (0-2), N. Henry, S. Gaffney. Subs., J. R. Bodkin (0-2, one free), for Gaffney, half-time; D. Byrne, for N. Quinn, 55 mins. Corofin: D. Morris; P. Kelly, A. Burke, C. McGrath; Daithí Burke, T. Goggins, M. Comer; K. Fitzgerald, captain, G. Higgins; G. Sice, Damien Burke, I. Burke; C. O'Donovan, T. Costello (0-6, four frees), A. O'Donovan (0-1, free). Subs., J. Canney, for C. O'Donovan, 28 mins; G. Delaney, for M. Comer, 37 mins; M. Lundy (0-1), for A. O'Donovan, 41 mins; K. Comer (0-1, free), for Damien Burke, 45 mins; M. Farragher, for Canney, 52 mins. Referee: Frank Kinneen. Herald Sport Man of the Match: Shared by Tony Costello and Conor Doherty (Tuam Stars).[/private]