Corofin overcome shaky start to defeat Fulham Irish in London
Corofin hit three first-half goals All-Ireland Club Football quarter-final to secure victory over Fulham Irish in miserable conditions at Ruislip today.
The Galway men were punished for a poor start as Fulham hit 1-1 without reply in the opening four minutes, but Kevin O’Brien’s men soon found their groove and had put daylight between the sides by half-time.
Two goals in three minutes from Jason Leonard and Colin Brady put Corofin in front for the first time and they hit Fulham with a hammer blow in the final minute of the half when Ian Burke bagged their third major.
That gave Corofin a 3-3 to 1-3 lead at the interval and although they toiled in front of goal after the restart, a Fulham comeback was never likely.
The Londoners got off to a dream start when Owen Mulligan converted an early free and fellow Tyrone native Marty Hughes lobbed Bernard Power after a poor clearance by the Corofin goalkeeper.
But Corofin’s response was impressive, with Michael Farragher pulling the strings around midfield and some slick hands in the forward line creating a host of scoring chances.
The second half was a forgettable affair as Corofin racked up the wides, but they did manage four points in the final 10 minutes as focus turned to an All-Ireland semi-final date with Moorefield on February 17.
J Leonard 1-2 (1-0pen, 0-1f), C Brady 1-1, I Burke 1-0, G Sice (f), Michael Farragher, R Steede, C Silke, Martin Farragher 0-1 each.
M Hughes 1-0, O Mulligan 0-2 (2f), M Murphy, L Staunton (f) 0-1 each.
B Power; L Silke, K Fitzgerald, K Murphy; K Molloy, C Silke, D Wall; M Farragher, R Steede; G Sice, M Lundy, J Leonard; I Burke, M Farragher, C Brady.
C Cunningham for Murphy (16), B O’Donovan for Molloy (44, black card), D Silke for Brady (50), D Canney for Leonard (55).
J Tavey; R Morgan, C Hyde, C Murphy; J Gilfedder, H Dockry, A Savage; M Murphy, D O’Connor; L Turley, O Mulligan, A McArdle; S Quinn, M Hughes, B Martin.
D Comer for Molloy (20), I Nolan for Savage (44), L Staunton for Turley (44), P Friel for Martin (49), P McGirr for Quinn (59), A Kelleher for O’Connor (60).
N Mooney (Cavan).
Irish Examiner
