Corofin rejoice after 'sheer battle' in All-Ireland final win over Kilcoo
Monday 20 January 2020 00:03, UK
Corofin's third Andy Merrigan Cup triumph in succession was sealed by the most difficult of deciders.
In 2018 and 2019, they beat Nemo Rangers and Dr Crokes by 15 and 12 points respectively. On Sunday afternoon, they were pushed to the pin of their colour by a resolute Kilcoo outfit, who weren't shaken off until extra time.
The thrill of edging a real battle trumped the previous two victories for star forward Ian Burke.
"The emotion at the end of that game was something I don't think I've witnessed in a long time," said the 2018 All-Star.
"The sheer battle that we had. Fair dues to Kilcoo, it took us a long time to figure them out defensively.
"At full time, we just said 'give it 10 minutes, give it everything we've got'. They had nothing to lose, we had nothing to lose.
"Lucky enough we got a couple of good scores and [I'm] delighted for Conor [Cunningham] to get the goal then to give us a good platform to see it out."
The first half was played on Kilcoo's terms, as the Ulster champions frustrated the Galway side, with just five points being scored in the 30-minute period.
No doubt a difficult half of football for a forward of Burke's calibre.
"It was frustrating and enjoyable," he opined, when asked about the first half. "Coming up against these defences and trying to break that down is something you relish as a forward.
"We have good quality forwards and the thinking that goes on there with a lot of them lads is second to none.
"It took us 24 minutes to get a score, it took us a while but when we got into our groove, we got our runners through. You don't really mind who scores once you get the scores.
"We were able to tag on a couple of points and see it out."
For now, the club will revel in their unprecedented achievement.
"I think the way we won that final is as sweet as any of the other victories we had over the last two years," added manager Kevin O'Brien. "The lads showed...that they can grind out results no matter what way you try to play against us.
"In the other finals we went out, we were let play football. That was the way the other teams set up. Today was probably a bit more defensive. It was hard to get scores out there. Kilcoo are very well drilled and set up.
"It's great for Galway as well, as a county with a new manager, it's going to give us, everyone a great boost.
The lads showed...that they can grind out results no matter what way you try to play against us
"To do something at this level, you have to remember it's club level, to do this, the commitment they put it. The likes of Fitzy (Kieran Fitzgerald) there today, he didn't just play 60 minutes, I think he played 90, tearing up the pitch. That's the effort the lads put in, they just train all the time. They're a great bunch, and they're self-managing.
"My job is easy enough. I'm probably fortunate as well to have a great management team around me. Anything I [ask them] to do, it's done.
"It's fantastic. I'm sure we'll think about it a bit more over the next few days. But listen, it's great, it's fantastic."
