Lundy saves Corofin with late point
COROFIN are renowned for their coolness under pressure, but Micheál Lundy’s levelling score in the 64th minute brought it to a whole new level at Pearse Stadium yesterday.
With three minutes of added-time announced it seemed as if Mountbellew-Moylough’s ‘keep it tight and pounce’ tactics had paid off when referee James Molloy awarded them a tap-over free for an off-the-ball foul. Barry McHugh put them one up and their first county title since 1986 seemed secured.
With their dream of six-in-a-row fading, Corofin even had the gumption to turn down a 47-metre free and instead worked possession deep into the fourth minute of added-time, where captain Lundy found a yard to punch the leveller.
“It was a frantic finish, but Corofin are incredible champions,” said Mountbellew-Moylough manager Michael Donnellan. “They showed it there at the end where they came back and got that equalising point. When things maybe weren’t going that well for them they showed their class.
“But I’m really proud of these young lads. They are a fantastic group. They have a great camaraderie and team spirit. You have to just be really proud of them and hand it to them.”
From the start Mountbellew-Moylough elected to line up with a watertight defence, force turnovers from Corofin, and build their attacks slowly. After 30 minutes their plan was working as they led 0-3 to 0-1, only for Corofin to score the last two points of the opening half to draw level.
All three of Corofin’s scores came from play in that opening period, but as well as scores from Kieran Molloy, Gary Sice and Martin Farragher, they also kicked five poor wides.
McHugh kicked two dead balls either side of a brilliant Eoin Finnerty score from the right, but they came close to hitting the net a minute from the break when Lundy denied John Daly with a brilliant goal-line block.
Michael Farragher could have found the net at the other end after just 10 seconds’ play, but his shot crept inches past the post, and until the third quarter Corofin found chances hard to come by.
After the restart, though, Sice grew into the game and his two points were key to their two-point lead after 49 minutes. However, after that they failed to score until Lundy popped up at the death.
“It was a super finish to get the score. The game was probably gone at that time,” said Corofin boss Kevin O’Brien.
“We knew coming into this game it’d be tough. There were crazy odds. Mountbellew are a great side, they have been in the last few county finals. The way they have been playing all year, it was always going to be tight.
“Barry’s (McHugh) frees were very important. They always kept a point ahead of us. When we went two points up we just couldn’t get the third one. Scores were hard got out there.
“A goal probably would have changed the game. We made two or three last-ditch saves. The hunger of this team, they have been on the go for a long time. Big questions asked today, there will be again the next day.”