Corofin advance despite early red card setback
EXPERIENCED Corofin defender Kieran Fitzgerald paid tribute to his colleagues after they advanced to another All-Ireland club football final despite playing most of the game with 14 men.
Full-forward Martin Farragher was harshly sent off after a tangle with Liam Healy as the Moorefield full-back fielded a high ball.
But Corofin dug deep and never trailed as they advanced to a showdown against either Nemo Rangers or Slaughtneil.
‘We knew Moorefield would be tough and that obviously became so much harder when we had to play most of the game with 14 men,’ said the former Galway defender who was man of the match.
‘We are thrilled, relieved, all those emotions.’
The game struggled to come to life despite the explosive opening with Farragher’s dismissal and it took 14 minutes for the opening score when Corofin’s Jason Leonard pointed from the left.
The sides were deadlocked at 0-2 each with both of them squandering several chances, but Corofin used all their experience to get on top after the restart and opened up a three-point lead.
Gary Sice pointed a free before a superb run by Dylan Wall set up Ian Burke for a quality score.
And the five-in-a-row Galway champions lead by 0-5 to 0-2 after 36 minutes when Ronan Steede went forward to score.
Moorefield lost Adam Tyrrell to a black card after 45 minutes but they closed the gap when O’Connor landed a free shortly after.
Points from Aaron Mullins and the impressive James Murray levelled the game going into the final 10 minutes, before another Sice free edged Corofin 0-6 to 0-5 in front.
Cian O’Connor tied the match four minutes from time, but Corofin struck for the killer score as Ian Burke fed the advancing Silke who tucked the ball into the net.