Corofin Too Strong For Fulham Irish
Corofin Too Strong For Fulham Irish
January 22, 2018
McGovern Park played host to the re-fixture of the All-Ireland Senior Club Football Quarter Final, on a day that Corofin were too strong for Fulham. The game was meant to be played on December 10th only for the game to be called off due to snow fall the night before. The weather conditions were difficult for football but both teams were determined to get a good start. Fulham got the better of the early exchanges when the Corofin goalkeeper passed the ball to an unmarked Marty Hughes. Hughes made no mistake and lobbed the keeper to give Fulham a 1-01 to 0-00 lead after 5 minutes. Despite the good start Fulham would be trailing by 2 goals at the interval. Only moments after conceding a goal, Corofin got onto the scoreboard when Jason Leonard was pulled down for penalty after a great team move. Liam Silke made the long run up from corner back to slot the ball into the bottom left corner. Leonard tacked on a point for Corofin moments before Kieran Molloy made a daring run up the field, found himself with the ball cutting in along the endline towards goal, and unselfishly passed the ball to Colin Brady who finished to an empty net. Both sides traded points over the remaining few minutes of the opening half, although Corofin added a third major, from the boot of Ian Burke after a well worked move down the middle. Corofin went into the changing rooms the happier of the sides, leading 3-03 to 1-03.
During the break the conditions began to worsen making turning and ball handling very difficult for players in the second half. Corofin very nearly started the second half just as they finished the first. Shea Quinn had his shot half blocked and directed goal word but the Fulham keeper was equal to it and managed to push the ball onto the post at full stretch. Both keepers were called into action early in the second half. Bernard Power pulled off a fine save when Marty Hughes caught the ball and hit it towards the bottom left corner. Minutes later Cororfin lost their influential wing back Kieran Molloy when he unnecessarily pulled down Anton McCardle 100 yards from his own goal. Corofin were made work for every score they got but they kept kicking over the points while Fulham tried to force a goal. Corofin powered to a 10 point victory and will now play Moorefield in the All Ireland semi-final.