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*Corofin’s Gearoid Cahill. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
COROFIN have shown their ability to bounce back to senior football with a bang, repeating the trick is easier said than done.
Winners of the Clare IFC in 2021, they seamlessly acclimatised back to life in the top flight by reaching the semi-finals. Fresh from their intermediate success, the job of forging a run to the last four at senior level is a big ask but one that is within their grasp.
Conviction is required from Corofin to show they can match all teams in the grade, manager Peadar O’Brien outlined. “We have to go and prove that we are good enough, it is a different team now to what came up the last time, there’s some of the lads involved but it is slightly different from what we had that time, we went a couple of years without winning a senior championship game, we need to prove we belong in senior, it is easy say we’re too good for intermediate but until you prove it by winning games it is debatable”.
Peadar told The Clare Echo, “you have to go and prove you belong at senior. The last time we went up aside for our first year we failed to prove we were good enough, we escaped relegation in our second year and got caught by Kilmihil who beat us in the relegation final in the third year”.
Group 3 will be a tight with all four teams capable of making a semi-final in their own right. However, only two advance straight to the quarter-finals with the third placed side facing off with their Group 2 equivalent to complete the last eight line-up. “There’s no doubt it is a step up, we can only take it a game at a time and hope for the best. We’re hoping if we get a good start that we’d be halfway there in trying to get out of the group”
Up first is Lissycasey who are ironically the last team Corofin have beaten in a senior championship encounter, that being their quarter-final showdown of 2022 which they won 1-19 0-16. “You’re going to try win every game you play, not looking past the first round. We’re hoping our injury profile is not too bad heading into the first game, you don’t know what way your fixed until then”.
“It is a tough group, there’s no question about that, St Breckans have been county semi-finalists and finalists, Kilmurry Ibrickane are Kilmurry Ibrickane, they will always be there or thereabouts, Lissycasey won the Cusack Cup, they are operating at a higher level to us”.
Diarmuid Cahill is ruled out for round one and remains a doubt to feature during the Clare SFC due to a groin issue. “He is a big loss, he is a good scoring forward, whether it is points or goals, he can score. He missed the early rounds for us last year but he came back in the later rounds and made a big difference, depending on where we finish he may be available to us at some stage”.
Defender Damien O’Loughlin missed out on Corofin’s first round defeat to Tubber in the Clare PIHC but his fitness will be monitored until closer to throw-in this weekend.
Offering a timely lift is the more regular presence of Jamie Malone, he had been flying back from the Middle East for their knockout championship outings last season but is back in Corofin and ready to lead the charge. “It is a boost when any quality player comes back into the fold, Jamie has quality and he has ability, as they say class is permanent and that is Jamie,” Peadar commented.
Dual demands can be a juggling act for players and managers, there’s an extra iron in the fire with Corofin’s relegation from the Clare SHC giving them an additional group game in the Clare PIHC to contend with. “It is tricky because there’s an extra game in the hurling than we normally had, we had three up to now, we have four this year, we’re lucky to have the hurling bye between the Lissycasey and St Breckans game but at the same time it is too early in that we’ll have two played with potentially five to play every week without a break, that is five depending on when you finish up, we could be in a quarter-final, a preliminary quarter-final or a relegation battle”.
Corofin Factfile
Management: Peadar O’Brien (manager), Mark Rafferty (head coach), Joe Shannon (selector), Luke O’Loughlin (selector), Diarmuid Daly (selector), Paul Moroney (coach)
Captain: Kevin Keane
Key Player: Jamie Malone
One to watch: Caoimhin O’Donovan
Fresh blood: Eoin Davoren, Fionn Clancy, Oisin Tierney, Darragh McGroary, Christian Cummins.
Departures Gate: Seán O’Brien (Australia)
Treatment table: Diarmuid Cahill (groin)
Titles won: 0
Last season’s run: Promoted from intermediate
Schedule of games:
Round 1 vs Lissycasey on Saturday August 1st at 13:00 in Clarecastle
Round 2 vs St Breckans on Sunday August 16th at 15:00 in Gurteen
Round 3 vs Kilmurry Ibrickane on Sunday August 30th at 13:00 in Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg, Ennis
Championship power ranking (1=weak/unlikely winners, 10=strong contenders): 6
