8 years is a crazy amount of time to go unbeaten in a county championship and Corofin were long overdue an ‘off-day’ in Galway club football.
But according to Ray Silke, this off day has been coming upon them fast with the mighty Corofin team showing signs of vulnerability in recent seasons as almost half of their starting team edge over the age of 30.
“I think Corofin had been riding their luck a little bit for the last two years,” the All-Ireland winning captain with Galway and Corofin said on The GAA Hour.
“It took a replay against Tuam last year, the previous year, they scored an injury time point against Mountbellew-Moylough. Mountbellew played as they always have last Sunday but Corofin didn’t have the gas in the tank…”
“Kieran Fitzgerald’s presence at full back, not just for his stability but his organisational skills, was a huge loss too. My nephew Liam was full back and Eoin Finnerty gave him bags of it. Patrick Kelly in the corner is a mammoth of a man for Mountbellew at 6 ft 5. Six of the Corofin guys are 30 over and Gary Sice is 36.
“So is it the end of that team? I’d say yes in many ways it is. It’s not just that they’re 30, but they have so many miles on the clock. It’s going to take a few minors and underage players to come in and while everyone thinks Corofin are this rolls royce of an underage set-up – to replace the quality of those guys coming through is tough…”
It would take a brave punter to bet against Corofin bouncing back in 2021 but for now, the Galway final takes on a bit of a novelty factor in their absence. Moycullen’s presence meanwhile, lends an even greater pageantry to the occasion, the 2015 intermediate champions having never won the title in their history. Mountbellew-Moylough, for the record, have won the title four times but 34 years have passed since their last.
“I said to my nephews earlier in the year ‘it would be good if someone else won,’ and they said ‘what are you talking about?’ I said sure the likes of Moycullen have never won, and ye’ve boys walking around with ten, 12, 14 medals. To be fair, spread it out,” laughs Silke.
Three new ‘signings’ have certainly bolstered the Moycullen cause this year while a certain 17-year-old has been turning heads throughout the championship.
“Moycullen have three new signing this season. One is an absolute gem, an Antrim fella Owen Gallagher who played Sigerson with NUIG. He’s a gem, an inter-county forward to join a club. He’s experienced, the game changer v Tuam Stars. Working down in Galway as a doctor.
“Two is Tom Clarke, from Knockmore. He’s a Garda Siochána connection, working nights and so on in Galway. Don Connellan (Moycullen manager) is a guard as well. He transferred to Moycullen this year so after his club Knockmore winning in Mayo, there’s pressure on him to deliver as well!”
“The third fella is Neil Walsh from Cavan, a good player at full forward. So 9, 11 and 14 are new signings to the club, a club who were already making good progress….”
“Then keep an eye out for this guy, James McLoughlin, he’s six foot four, he was midfield on the Galway minors and under 20s. He’s only 18 in December but he’s an absolute monster…”
Mountbellew-Moylough however, will go into the game as favourites having finally overcome the champions. They’ve lost the final three times since 2015 but with Corofin eliminated, Val Daly’s side will fancy their chances.
“Val has them pushing up much more. They have three outstanding forwards in Finnerty, Kelly and Barry McHugh and when you add in Michael Daly, he was phenomenal in midfield the last day…”
This should be a real clinker in the west.
You can listen to this interview and much more from this week’s GAA Hour here.
