All Ireland Club Championships

[Manning18]

It's time to introduce the spray they have in soccer for free kicks. I'd be be surprised if any free today was kicked from where the foul was particularly the last one in normal time. https://twitter.com/kevinconnor1/status/1218950598944534528?s=21

Agreed. Besides the farce that was Lane moving the ball 25 yards forward instead of the proper 13, this plague of lads robbing yards from frees has to be dealt with. Will only become a bigger part of the game now with the mark. Most people enjoy the skill of taking a free from the ground, but one of the reasons it's dying is that it's actually irresponsible of a manager to allow a free taker take it from the ground. You can advance 10 yards from the hands, and can't advance at all from the ground. It's a very easy fix at the top level also. A simple small spray from the can, as you say. Don't kick it past that

[6th sam]

It's time to introduce the spray they have in soccer for free kicks. I'd be be surprised if any free today was kicked from where the foul was particularly the last one in normal time. https://twitter.com/kevinconnor1/status/1218950598944534528?s=21

Agreed. Besides the farce that was Lane moving the ball 25 yards forward instead of the proper 13, this plague of lads robbing yards from frees has to be dealt with. Will only become a bigger part of the game now with the mark. Most people enjoy the skill of taking a free from the ground, but one of the reasons it's dying is that it's actually irresponsible of a manager to allow a free taker take it from the ground. You can advance 10 yards from the hands, and can't advance at all from the ground. It's a very easy fix at the top level also. A simple small spray from the can, as you say. Don't kick it past that

The current loose system around taking frees is actually a disincentive to fouling which has an obvious  positive spin-off. I'm sure loads of referees subconsciously or otherwise are happy to penalise such cynicism by allowing loads of yards to be stolen

[GaillimhIarthair]

How big is the corofin catchment area and has this area extended over the years ?

They basically have everything north of Claregalway right up to Tuam. It is all rural, but covers a lot of ground. In laws are from a rival club, and Corofin's perceived large pick is a bone of contention.

Yeah, they have quite a big area for sure - the club would also include all of the Belclare area.  From an underage perspective, they have started to tail off in more recent years so their current run of success will naturally fall away.  Saying that, there is probably another county title in them!  Underage is now being dominated by clubs from the commuter towns around Galway e.g. Claregalway, Salthill, Oranmore-Maree, Moycullen etc. 

[Applesisapples]

The performance of both Refs today in the Club finals was poor in the extreme, only difference was that Lane's inept display had a baring on the outcome of the game. Seriously sore on both teams.

[galwayman]

How big is the corofin catchment area and has this area extended over the years ?

They basically have everything north of Claregalway right up to Tuam. It is all rural, but covers a lot of ground. In laws are from a rival club, and Corofin's perceived large pick is a bone of contention.

Yeah, they have quite a big area for sure - the club would also include all of the Belclare area.  From an underage perspective, they have started to tail off in more recent years so their current run of success will naturally fall away.  Saying that, there is probably another county title in them!  Underage is now being dominated by clubs from the commuter towns around Galway e.g. Claregalway, Salthill, Oranmore-Maree, Moycullen etc.

When I was playing underage football in Galway, Corofin were completely dominant and won 8 minor titles in a row from 1992 to 1999.
They beat us in a county u14 A final around the start of that time.
As you say though - that dominance has disappeared. Their last minor title was 8 years ago.
They are still producing quality players but you'd imagine this will have an impact on the senior team in the not too distant future.
They are certainly making hay while the sun shines for now though.

[An Fhairche Abu]

Kilcoo will have serious regrets, even disregarding the job Kilcoo did of dragging Corofin into a game was played entirely on Kilcoo's terms in the first half, Corofin played their worst game since losing to Crokes in 2017, very poor shot selection, their famed kick passing was off (the amount of terrible kicks to no one in particular was like something from Junior B) and they got flustered very early in the match. Kilcoo seriously rattled them and had their shooting boots been on in the first half then I think there is a strong chance we would be here wondering what happened to the Corofin machine that failed to make the 3 in a row.

A lot of people giving out about Corofin cynicism, all great teams are cynical to an extent but while they lost the plot in the last 10 of normal time, to such a degree that it should probably have cost them the game when it went to ET, blame has to go to Kilcoo as well, the targeting of Sice throughout the match was disgraceful, sledging, pulling and dragging started straight from the throw in, Corofin seemed to take a "meet fire with fire" approach and it nearly blew up in their face.
All that said Conor Lane had a bizarre game and he actively contributed to the mess that a lot of the match was. Giving out a red card where I'm not sure that both yellows were correct, he gave a huge amount of 50/50 decisions to the underdogs throughout and that definitely contributed to how frustrated and out of kilter Corofin were. The amount of metres the last free in ordinary time was brought forward was farcical, Kilcoo deserved a draw at least on the basis of their performance so I wasn't too unhappy to see it go over in all honesty but still it's crazy stuff to give the guts of 25 metres (between both the spot being moved and the yards stolen by the freetaker) from where the foul occurrence was to where the kick was taken.

While the Farraghers, Burke and Lundy were held scoreless, it was Steede who really stepped up with three outrageous scores along with a great performance in general play and he was an easy MOTM pick. I think a lot of the talk about Corofin compared to county teams should be parked as well, their advantage is that they have very good club players in every line of the pitch and a higher then normal club standard squad overall as shown by the huge contribution made from the lesser heralded players yesterday. At the end of the day Sice is still the main man for them (that block in injury time was outstanding) along with the platform that D. Burke and Steede provide when they get a run on teams in the middle like in the first period of ET. Their recovery in ET was magnificent but I felt that Kilcoo were out on their feet and once Corofin got two points ahead it was all over, the goal just put the tin hat on it.
Ian Burke was a virtual non factor in the match, a poor miss that should have been a tapover down the stretch is the most memorable play he had, his form for club and county has imploded since he got the All Star in 2018, it'll be interesting to see if he is brought straight back into the Galway team when the Corofin players return.

Corofin are the greatest club team of all time and best of luck to them but I am really hoping that they are beaten in Galway this year, it'd be better for the county for their stranglehold to be broken, they will have to come back a bit, key players like Fitzgerald and especially Sice can't go on forever.

[GetOverTheBar]

Was one of those games yesterday after about 15 mins I was thinking Jesus.....would Liverpool/Utd be any better here.

It was inevitable Kilcoo would do something like that, Corofin probably still should have bagged two goals early on but I thought it was only a matter of time before Corofin kicked on and put them away handy enough but to be fair, Kilcoo brought them to a horrible place. They neutralised many of Corofin big players and actually, out of nowhere could have won it at the end.

Lane was a bit of a mess altogether, the Kilcoo sending off, I mean he gave him a decision to make....what can you argue really. Bringing in the free at the end after playing 5 mins over added time? Man lost the run of himself and it's actions like those that really bring on probably unfair abuse to other refs. Saying that, Corofin missed some chances, wides and shorts to put it to bed.

You have to give massive credit to Corofin to come out in ET and do what they did after the nonsense at end of Normal Time....that's that experience that they had that Kilcoo lacked. They are a serious team, worthy Champions.

[Maroon Manc]

Corofin peaked as a team last year but I think its premature to talk of them coming to an end, they've found it difficult getting out of Galway the last 2 years but they've 4 or 5 lads who didn't start yesterday who could freshen the team up. The Galway u20 team who played Dublin in the All Ireland semi last year had 5 Corofin players on it and they've had 3 players starting on in the last 2 All Ireland minor final.

[Applesisapples]

Not that long ago Cross were the best team of all time, and before that Nemo.....Hard to compare.

[An Fhairche Abu]

Not that long ago Cross were the best team of all time, and before that Nemo.....Hard to compare.

3 in a row Senior Club All Ireland's is unmatched in either code and they annexed another recent title in 2015 for good measure, they've won by dominating finals against traditional big clubs like Crokes, Nemo and showed they could grind it out yesterday.
Given the competitiveness of the club championship (the likes of Mullinalaghta as Leinster champs, an Antrim team in St Galls as champs in 2010, Corofin themselves barely made it out of Galway the last two years) compared to Senior Inter county as well it's an incredible achievement, I'd find it hard to argue against them as the greatest at this point.
Whether they can continue this amazing run of success is a different matter but time will tell.

[manfromdelmonte]

They were very fresh in extra time
Serious level of conditioning needed for that

[Maroon Manc]

They were very fresh in extra time
Serious level of conditioning needed for that

Think they brought on 7 subs in total who had either represented Galway at either Senior or U20/21 level, they've strength in depth nobody can match.

[GalwayBayBoy]

They were very fresh in extra time
Serious level of conditioning needed for that

I thought Corofin might be in real trouble in extra time. They looked a bit bedraggled by the final whistle while Kilcoo were straight into a huddle and looked all business and ready to go. Instead Corofin saved their best football for extra time while Kilcoo just didn't have the energy to cover the spaces like they did earlier on.

[Rudi]

They were very fresh in extra time
Serious level of conditioning needed for that

I thought Corofin might be in real trouble in extra time. They looked a bit bedraggled by the final whistle while Kilcoo were straight into a huddle and looked all business and ready to go. Instead Corofin saved their best football for extra time while Kilcoo just didn't have the energy to cover the spaces like they did earlier on.

After the huddle, they ran full tilt into the tunnel, I think that killed them. Someone in the crowd must have shouted Man U have equalised.

[Jeepers Creepers]

I thought Kilcoo looked dead on their feet not long into the 2nd half never mind Extra time. Corofin were def on the Bob Martins for ET!