St. Vincent’s defence of their All-Ireland title is over.
It’s Corofin who march into the All-Ireland club final on St. Patrick’s Day.
The Galway side beat the Dubliners in the All-Ireland semi final in Tullamore this afternoon by 5 points.
It’s a deserved win in truth for Corofin.
St. Vincent’s didn’t really get going until late in the second half.
A first half of high drama saw Corofin go in at half time with a 2 point lead.
In reality- they should have led by more.
The Connacht champions missed three clear cut goal chances in the first 30 minutes.
Michael Savage pulled off a great save in the Vincent’s goal when faced with a 1-on-1 effort from Martin Farragher.
Ian Burke should have hit the net for Corofin when put clean through on goal, but his shot went over the bar instead.
And then Gary Delaney hit the crossbar from a penalty effort.
Shortly after that penalty miss, Vincent’s were awarded a spot kick of their own.
And Tomas Quinn made no mistake, hitting the net to give the Marino men the lead.
That lead didn’t last long, though.
Martin Farragher struck back for Corofin, which saw them go in 1-8 to 1-6 ahead at the break.
The second half failed to match the first period’s intensity and excitement.
Corofin moved 5 clear early in the half, before Vincent’s starting coming more into the game.
But despite increased possession, they couldn’t really get a foothold in the game and looked flat- never getting closer than 2 points to the Galway men in the second period.
Corofin have their full forward line to thank for victory today.
That trio struck all but 3 points for the winners- 1-11 in all.
And they were the only scorers for the Galway men between the 10th and 57th minute.
But that full forward line did enough- and the Vincent’s defence couldn’t get close to them, especially in that first half.
Corofin impressed late on, as they stayed resolute in defence during a late Vincent’s resurgence.
But the Marino side’s star man Diarmuid Connolly was unable to get into the game as Vincent’s would have hoped, kicking just 3 points in all.
So St Vincent’s lose for the first time in the championship since October 2012.
It’s Corofin who march onto the All-Ireland final on Paddy’s Day, on a scoreline of 1-14 to 1-9.
Afterwards, Vincent's manager Tommy Conroy spoke to the waiting media, including 98FM Sport's Derek Ryan:
Vincent's Captain Ger Brennan also admitted that Corofin deserved their win:
