Pádraig Pearses overcome Corofin to reach Connacht semi

Pádraig Pearses (Roscommon) 2-10 Corofin (Galway) 0-10

For the second year in succession, Corofin's Connacht Club Championship ambitions have run aground against Roscommon opposition.

Last year they made a slow start against St. Brigid’s, got a goal either side of half-time but couldn’t match the eventual provincial champions over the final 20 minutes, eventually losing out by 1-13 to 2-05.

Arguably today’s defeat to Pádraig Pearses was even more comprehensive. The first half was little short of breathtaking, as the south Roscommon side produced utterly devastating football both in attack and in defence.

The second half was all about game management, and even when Corofin rattled off four points in a row in the closing stages, it still felt as if Pearses were just making sure that they maintained the philosophy of "bend, but don’t break".

Then Liam Silke hoisted over a skyscraper to make it 1-10 to 0-10, and on the next play Declan Kenny picked up the break from the kickout, sent an immaculate pass over the top of the Corofin defence through to substitute Jack Nevin, and Nevin duly knocked the ball ahead on the deck before tapping it into an empty net, with Bernard Power stranded at midfield.

It remains to be seen if Pearses will take over from Corofin as the favourites for the Andy Merrigan Cup race, but on the strength of this performance, they have to be in the mix.

For the first five minutes, it was all going to plan for the five-time All-Ireland champions. Darragh Silke and Dylan Canny kicked the first two points, and they controlled the game.

Then Jack Tumulty ran hard at the Corofin defence, drew a free which Eoin Colleran converted, and Pearses never looked back.

In defence, they were ravenous and yet immaculately disciplined. In attack, Colleran and Paul Carey were ruthless and unstoppable, rattling off 1-06 between them which included just two frees.

Tumulty played in Carey for the goal after 12 minutes and while Corofin had legitimate calls for an overcarrying call, in truth if John Gilmartin had blown his whistle, it would have been to penalise Conor Cunningham for holding back the Pearses forward.

Luck didn’t favour the Galway club at times – Jack McCabe had an attempt from the left wing that was adjudged to have gone wide after a lengthy dispute – but a remarkable goal-line clearance from Paul Carey to deny Brian Cogger after the Corofin man took a pass from Conor Cunningham and beat Paul Whelan with his shot, proved that scores were going to be incredibly hard to come by.

Declan Kenny sprinted down the right flank and stroked the ball over with his left, Carey rounded off the half with another explosive burst of pace after he easily shrugged off the attention of Dylan McHugh, and the rapturous applause from the substantial Pearses crowd showed that they understood the commanding position that they had established.

The scores dried up in the second half, but that owed as much to conservatism, and making sure not to give Corofin the oxygen of a goal, as much as anything else.

By the midway point in the second half just two points had been added to the scoreboard, a fisted effort from Micheál Lundy and a Kieran Molloy strike from distance, but points from a Carey free and Conor Harley’s close range punch ensured there was still seven points between the sides going into the last ten minutes.

With Pearses camping out inside their own 45, some excellent strikes from distance in those closing stages helped Corofin to rattle off four in a row and hint at the idea of a smash and grab raid, but by now they had to take huge risks to try and force the issue, and when Declan Kenny picked up a breaking ball from a kickout with Bernard Power out of his goal, one accurate left footed pass over the top left Jack Nevin with a simple finish to crown a remarkable afternoon.

Pádraig Pearses: Paul Whelan; Gavin Downey, Niall Carty, David Murray; Declan Kenny (0-01), Caelim Keogh, Conor Harley (0-01); Conor Ryan, Niall Daly (0-01); Conor Daly, Ronan Daly, Adam McGreal; Eoin Colleran (0-03, 0-01 free, 0-01 mark), Paul Carey (1-04, 0-02 frees, 0-01 mark), Jack Tumulty.

Subs: Seán Canning for McGreal (41), Mark Richardson for Downey (51), Jack Nevin for Tumulty (53), Conor Lohan for Harley (59), Emmet Kelly for Colleran (60+2).

Corofin: Bernard Power; Cathal Silke, Dylan McHugh, Liam Silke (0-01); Brian Cogger, Conor Cunningham, Kieran Molloy (0-02); Patrick Egan, Michael Farragher; Dylan Canny (0-04, 0-02 frees), Tony Gill, Colin Brady; Darragh Silke (0-01), Gary Sice, Jack McCabe (0-01, mark).

Subs: Gavin Burke for C Silke (24), Jason Leonard for Gill (half-time), Micheál Lundy (0-01) for Cunningham (half-time), Martin Farragher for Sice (43), Ross Coen for D Silke (53)

Referee: John Gilmartin (Sligo).

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