This article is from page 113 of the 2009-10-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 113 JPG
IT had been 29 years since Corofin last won the Junior A championship and that hunger and determination to bridge that long gap certainly had a major bearing on Saturday’s result.
Put simply, Corofin wanted this ti- tle more and with that added drive, they certainly earned a bit of fortune along the way before finally claim- ing the title. The perfectly timed goals were the sucker-punches that decided the tie, with the two second- half efforts in particular of the ‘soft’ variety.
Inagh/Kilnamona can’t really ar- gue with the overall result as frus- tratingly, they never really reached the heights of previous performances in their bid to bounce straight back up to the intermediate grade.
Essentially, Corofin had numerous leaders in their side willing to take up the challenge while in contrast, Inagh/Kilnamona appeared appre- hensive for the majority, fumbling possession and giving away too many frees that Stephen Heagney was only too willing to punish.
The first significant blow came in the 23rd minute, with Corofin hold- ing a slender 0-6 to 0-4 advantage after a relatively evenly matched opening. An Inagh/Kilnamona puck- out was gathered by defensive anchor Eoin Malone whose clearance found David Daly. As the centre-forward attracted the Combo defence, he of- floaded to Fiachra Daly who was met by onrushing goalkeeper Stephen Toomey for a penalty.
Stephen Heagney, who had _ al- ready secured four of Corofin’s total, stepped up to accurately drive his ef- fort to the right corner of the net, an advantage they would hold until the break at 1-7 to 0-5.
A five point deficit was far from insurmountable but if Inagh/Kilna- mona had planned to hit the ground running in the second period, they were knocked back on their heels right from the throw-in as a Heag- ney free from half-way caused con-
sternation in the Inagh/Kilnamona full-back line and the ball broke to kindly for Fiachra Daly to pull to an empty net.
Inagh/Kilnamona took the blow on the chin and proceeded to pick off a brace of points through Dam- ien O’Shaughnessy and Joe Griffin to reduce the lead to six. However, they were once again floored only a minute later by a third hammer blow, this time an own goal. Goalkeeper Stephen Toomey batted a Michael
O’Dell delivery off the heel of his own player and could only watch in horror as the ball trickled over the line.
Credit the Combo for not panicking though as three successive Damien O’Shaughnessy frees cut the deficit to six by the turn of the final quarter. Sensing the backlash, Corofin went on the defensive, pulling midfielder Diarmuid Daly back as a sweeper behind the half-back line and using a two-man full-forward line as Heag-
ney secured two more frees.
That tactic frustrated Inagh/Kilna- mona even more and although Joe Griffin’s 60th minute goal put only four between the sides, Corofin had invested far too much in this game to let it slip at that stage.
There were some nervy moments though, particularly when Eugene Cullinan’s pull flashed just over the crossbar but Corofin held out. In- evitably it was Heagney who con- verted the injury-time point in the 63rd minute to sink the Combo and hand Corofin the coveted title that they have waited so long to get their hands on.