Corofin create football history as first to claim three-in-a-row

Corofin footballers succeeded in making history when they became the first team to win three All Ireland senior club crowns in succession.

It was not the spectacle of previous wins, but winning is a habit for Corofin as they took control in extra time to see off opponents by 1-12 to 0-7.

Kilcoo had been happy to play a containing game to try to limit Corofin's scores and catch them on the break. This worked well until Dylan Ward was sent off. Corofin scored three in a row to lead by 0-7 to 0-4 with 15 minutes left.

Even with injuries to Dylan Wall and Kieran Molloy, Corofin showed their strength in depth with Dylan McHugh and goal scorer Conor Cunningham having a huge performance when introduced.

A black card to Corofin substitute Darragh Silke led to a free for Kilcoo in the ninth minute of added time after the referee had announced five minutes to be added. But after putting in a huge effort over 70 minutes. Kilcoo simply did not have the legs for the 20 minutes of extra time.

This allowed Corofin to finally play football. Utilising all their experience and ability, they went four clear before Cunningham struck the killer score. It gave Corofin a 1-11 to 0-7 lead at the extra-time break, and all Corofin needed to do was contain Kilcoo for 10 more minutes and avoid conceding a goal to be the first team to win three All-Ireland club titles in a row.

They did just that, with a fine score from Jason Leonard completing the win for Corofin, and Ronan Steede named man of the match.

In front of 25,900 people, Corofin players secured the title as the greatest club team of all time.

 

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