Corofin win out in epic end of year clash with Castlebar

Corofin 0-17 Castlebar Mitchels 0-14

The last of the summer wine. It will be poor consolation to Castlebar but the Mayo and reigning Connacht champions contributed to one of the last great occasions of the GAA year as the days begin to shorten in earnest. Mitchels had had the whip hand on Corofin in their last two winter meetings and almost executed a perfectly timed run here. But once this absorbing slow-burning game went into an extra-time period, the exertions of the local championship – Castlebar have been out for the last six weeks running – took an obvious toll. For all of their desire, Castlebar just couldn’t keep up with the precision-engineering of the Corofin game.

“I won’t be using it as an excuse ever,” said Declan Reilly.

“We all said we wouldn’t. But extra-time against a top class team like Corofin, six weeks in a row: it had some impact. We tried to freshen it up by bringing on as many fresh legs as we could but bodies were tired and sore out there. We are devastated. Losing a Connacht semi-final there’s nothing but just pure dejection and disappointment.”

For the Galway contingent there was localised ecstasy. The Corofin gathering hung around MacHale Park as the light faded, recounting the twists of a riveting game. Much of what is good about their style was on show here, from Ian Burke’s points of instinctive class to the deep influence nominal full-forward Michael Farragher had on the game. Ciaran McGrath had a huge game too, bursting through the intense Castlebar pressing cover to initiate the Corofin attacks. Ciaran Fitzgerald looks as if he may be wearing the number three jersey for another decade. Ronan Steede’s afternoon merited an explanation in itself. A blood injury – a nosebleed that would not stop – saw him replaced by Colin Brady no fewer than five times. Steede won a free in the opening episode of the second play but was forced off for more attention and was still on the bench when Brady, his repeated replacement, was himself injured. To complicate matters, Colin Brady was in turn replaced by Ciaran Brady and it looked as if Steede’s day was done. But he came back in wearing number 27 -his own being too bloodied for polite society - and promptly landed what looked like being the winning point in the 62nd minute.

By then, the crowd were lost in an end-to-end tussle that seemed like one of those television adverts which illuminate the heart-and-soul appeal of the club game. Neil Douglas, lukewarm in his dead-ball duties in the opening stanza, was on fire when it really mattered and Castlebar slowly erased the 0-7 to 0-4 lead which Corofin had established early in the second half to go 0-9 to 0-8 ahead with just five minutes left. It looked like a perfectly staged drive for victory and the teams concocted a series of heavyweight points which culminated in Steede’s outrageous bolt for glory. Castlebar answered through substitute David Stenson who had the verve to fire two big scores in that frantic five minute spell.

In the first half, Corofin played impeccably efficient attacking football in the heat of a fiery Mitchels’ defensive mentality. They converted seven of eight scoring chances, with the lightning Kieran Molloy dropping an effort short in the twentieth minute. All but two of those scores were from play and they were created under extreme duress, with the Mayo champions pressing hard and tackling with aggression. Molloy’s opening point was a brilliant individual effort; a measured, angled shot after a terrific run along the right wing in the third minute and over the following fifteen minutes, Corofin eased into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead, with Burke’s point making light of the heaviest of Castlebar’s defensive intensity. The score-line must have made puzzling work for Castlebar’s statisticians because with Barry Moran anchoring their midfield squad, they were winning plenty of possession and were repeatedly rewarded for running hard and straight at the Corofin defenders, winning the half-time free count by 16 to 7. Emerging Mayo star Paddy Durcan broke away from his fascinating and relentless skirmish with Gary Sice, who has seen it all before, to land one of those fizzing counter-attacking scores of his in the 29th minute, a hugely impressive score which he made look effortless.

“He defended well so we had to strike that balance of bringing him up. Sice is a real danger so we had to make sure that we kept ourselves in the game,” said Declan Reilly.

“Paddy got up the pitch when he could. We had other lads that came in to fill that role of attacking so that’s how these things go.”

It finished 0-6 to 0-4 at the break, leaving both managers with plenty to go on. Neither fullback line had been broached and neither goalkeeper was required to a safe. It was that kind of game.

“They are a tough outfit,” said Ian Burke later.

“We know that so we came out with our own game plan and had a go. We thought their legs might not hold – they were out six weeks on the trot – but they were there right at the end. We got a few good scores in the first half of extra-time and built from there and luckily we got through in the end.”

It wasn’t lucky, though. Corofin were the stronger side through the two 15 minute periods of added time. Their collective understanding and smartness and composure of Gary Sice and Michael Lundy enabled them to dominate once the space opened up on the field. It leaves Corofin primed for another tussle with St Brigid’s. The 2013 All-Ireland champions versus the 2015 All-Ireland champions on the last Sunday in November: a season without end, Amen.

Castlebar: 1 R Byrne, 3 G McDonagh, 4 D Newcombe; 5 R O'Malley, 2 S Irwin 6 E O'Reilly, 7 P Durcan (0-1); 8 A Walsh, 9 B Moran; 11 C Costello (0-1), 10 C Costello, 12 J Durcan,; 13 N Lydon 14 N Douglas (0-10, 8 frees, 45), 15 S Hopkins.

Substitutes: 24 J Maughan for 2 S Irwin (43 mins), 19 D Kirrby for N Lydon (43 mins), 18 D Stenson (0-2) for F Durkan (55 mins), 28 D Joyce for J Durkan (63 mins), 20 C Kyne for S Hopkins (71 mins), 17 R Burke for E O’Reilly (74 mins).

Corofin: 1 B Power; 2 C Silke, 3 K Fitzgerald, 4 L Silke; 5 K Molloy (0-1), 20 C Cunningham, 6 C MCGrath; 8 D Burke (0-1), 9 R Steede (0-1); 10 G Sice (0-3 frees), 11 D Wall, 19 M Lundy (0-1), 13 I Burke (0-4), 14 M Farragher (0-2), 15 J Leonard (0-4 2 frees). Subs: 24 Colin Brady for 22 Ciaran Brady (38 mins), 24 B O'Donovan for Ciaran Brady (55 mins), 27 R Steed for D Wall (59 mins), 7 A Burke for c Cunningham (65 mins), 25 G Higgins for c McGrath (78 mins).

Referee: Paddy Neilan (Roscommon).