Brigid's win by holding true to their principles
Pearse Frost leads the charge from the St. Brigid's bench as they greet Barry Judge's final whistle. Pictures: Gerard O'Loughlin.
Seventeen years after Karol Mannion’s infamous late goal gave St. Brigid’s their first Connacht title at Corofin’s expense, the same opposition were quashed to ensure that the Shane McGettigan Cup went to the club for the fifth time on Sunday afternoon in Dr. Hyde Park.
If that win in 2006 was dramatic, then this victory could only be described as emphatic. There was no subterfuge, no ambush, and no backward step. Jerome Stack sent his troops into battle, marching to their own beat, and they played Corofin as they would have any other opponent, attacking and defending on the front foot from start to finish.
In their last three championship outings, St. Brigid’s lined up against teams that changed the way they play in order to counteract the undoubted quality that exists within the Kiltoom and Cam parish club.
Mohill successfully turned a game that many expected to be a landslide, into a tight contest – albeit in no small part because so many key St. Brigid’s players underperformed. Coolera-Strandhill failed completely to curb the Roscommon champions and succeeded only in disrupting their own attacking play, while Boyle came agonisingly close to achieving their goal on the back of a great job in taking out some of their opponents’ pillars.
On Sunday, the tables were turned, as St. Brigid’s took on the mantle of underdogs and set about the task of taking on a club side that might not be the most feared in the country, but certainly is admired as much as anyone, and possibly more so.
Corofin’s reputation as a club that defends in depth but attacks with speed and precision is known across the land. Still, rather than change their own identity in a bid to take that strength away from the visitors, St. Brigid’s instead backed their own strengths to come up trumps. Rarely has a decision been more spectacularly vindicated.
Some decisions were easy. Gary Sice may have run riot so far this year with his scoring and playmaking, but Brian Stack has taken on many of the best forwards in the country this year, and has yet to come off second best. For the definitive verdict on how that battle went, see the ‘Player of the Match’ section over to the left.
Likewise, there was no choice but to let Ben O’Carroll try his luck against Liam Silke, since there was no danger of Kevin Johnson deploying anyone other than his leading light against the tenacious talisman in the left corner.
Other calls were not as straightforward. Jack McCabe has been a revelation, tearing Ballina Stephenites apart, but the faith that was placed in Pearse Frost was more than justified. McCabe struck two glorious points from very tough positions, but when it came to the ‘red zone’ where he could have done the most damage, Frost won every important contest and greatly limited a player that Corofin have come to rely on.
Robbie Dolan’s deployment in the other corner, up against Micheál Lundy, was another big match up that went well, as did Paul McGrath against Dylan McHugh and perhaps the riskiest of all, Bobby Nugent up against Brian Cogger.
There were areas where things didn’t go so well too. For the first time all year, Cormac Sheehy’s kickout didn’t go well, and even some of the restarts that were retained involved either a stroke of luck or a player winning a battle he had no right to win – Nugent coming up with a high ball in between three Corofin defenders in the first half comes to mind.
Eddie Nolan had a very decent day at midfield but even so, Patrick Egan was the star man in that sector, while on another day, Conor Cunningham might have found the net with one or both of his goal chances.
And yet, and yet, and yet – this was a provincial final against one of the front runners for the Andy Merrigan Cup, and St. Brigid’s didn’t just win, they won convincingly. They played the game on their terms, met Corofin head on, and simply raised their standards to a level that Kevin Johnson’s side simply couldn’t match.
Where this leaves their prospects of a second All-Ireland title will be discussed at great length this week and over Christmas, but for this generation of players, this win represents a high watermark of performance, and it has made the conversation inevitable.
Ben O’Carroll’s opening score certainly had some luck attached, and he will surely add the Dr. Hyde Park ground staff to his Christmas card list after watching his underhit shot bounce off the December sod over the bar, but from then on it was all about quality, and every break of the ball their way was hard-earned.
Hardened Corofin supporters questioned the decision to award a penalty for Bernard Power’s rash charge through Alan Daly’s back, and since Power got away with the very same thing against Evan Regan last time out, one could understand why he might have been emboldened to do so.
Nonetheless, it was a correct shout, and Ben O’Carroll’s penalty was so emphatically struck that one could feel the hopes and aspirations of the St. Brigid’s solidifying and crystallising into something more tangible in the roars of joy that greeted the dancing twine.
The next five minutes were all about survival as Conor Cunningham rattled the crossbar, Darragh Silke stroked the resultant ’45 over the bar, and Jack McCabe followed up with another excellent point.
Leadership was needed to turn the tide, and as is so often the case, Brian Stack stepped up to deliver it. One thunderous hit on Brian Cogger laid down a marker at one end of the field, and when he was fouled at the other end to allow Ben O’Carroll to tap over his third point, St. Brigid’s were about to embark on a run of four points in a row.
Just when it looked like Corofin might be dead by half-time, Liam Silke gave them life, palming in a goal with the last play of the half at the end of a move that he started by intercepting a long ball forward.
It was a rare piece of sloppy passing from St. Brigid’s, and one that might have been fatal, if Corofin found their shooting boots in the second half. Dylan McHugh’s goal after eight minutes cut the gap to the bare minimum, but three wides before that score sucked the life out of the favourites, and it meant that St. Brigid’s never fell behind.
Still they had to hold firm and beat back the tide, until Brian Stack – who else – came forward to kick a score that warmed hearts and souls on this bitterly cold afternoon.
As they had done in the first half, the green and red brigade duly marched in step behind their leader, and this time, when they built up a winning position, they didn’t let it go.
C. Sheehy; R. Dolan, B. Stack (0-1), P. Frost; R. Stack, A. Daly, R. Fallon (0-1); E. Nolan, S. Cunnane; B. Nugent (0-3, three frees), P. McGrath, C. Hand; B. O'Carroll (1-7, four frees, 1-0 pen), B. Derwin, C. Sugrue (0-1). Subs used: J. Cunningham for Hand (51 mins), C. Gleeson for Derwin (57 mins), S. Trundle for McGrath (60 mins).
B. Power; R. Mahon, C. Cunningham, L. Silke (1-0); B. Cogger, D. McHugh (1-0), G. Burke; P. Egan, C. Brady; D. Wall, D. Silke (0-1, 45), M. Farragher; J. McCabe (0-2), G. Sice (0-2, one free), M. Lundy. Subs used: K. Molloy for Wall (half-time), C. Newell for D. Silke (43 mins), D. Burke for Farragher (48 mins), G. McHugh for G. Burke (53 mins), T. Gill for Egan (58 mins).
St. Brigid’s – 3; Corofin – 7.
St. Brigid’s – Fallon (48 mins); Corofin – Lundy (29 mins), Molloy (48 mins).
St. Brigid’s – Frost (60 mins); Corofin – None.
St. Brigid’s – None; Corofin – None.
B. Judge (Sligo).
Brian Stack (St. Brigid’s) For all St. Brigid’s dominance from general play, it’s still far from certain that they would have won this game without yet another flawless, inspirational performance from their full-back. From the start he completely locked down Gary Sice, to the point that the Corofin talisman was mentally and physically rattled.
When Sice hoisted an aimless long ball into a heavily populated St. Brigid’s full back line and it was duly claimed by Ruaidhrí Fallon thanks to a tremendous leap from the wing-back, it was celebrated by St. Brigid’s both as a turnover won, and a sign that Sice had lost his composure and was now making poor decisions; all as a result of Stack’s complete control of their personal battle.
When scores were proving hard to come by in the second half it was Stack who surged forward to deliver a rousing point, and when the finish line was in sight, another foray up the pitch yielded a simple 30 metre chance with Ciarán Sugrue converted.
Ben O’Carroll got the official TG4 award and other than his two poorly-executed shots in the opening minutes, one of which quite fortunately bounced over the bar, the young inside forward was excellent, terrorising Liam Silke.
Robbie Dolan, Pearse Frost, Ruaidhrí Fallon, Ronan Stack, Eddie Nolan and Bobby Nugent all raised their game to match the occasion while on the Corofin side, Patrick Egan, Dylan McHugh and in particular Conor Cunningham did all they could to change the flow of the game.
It’s incredible to think back to the start of the Roscommon championship, and a time when St. Brigid’s were just one of at least half a dozen clubs that were considered to be in the mix for what was widely expected to be a wide open Fahey Cup race.
Now, just four months later, it’s easy to envisage this club, who started with ten players age 24 or under, dominating the local scene for a long time to come.
That the talent was there in the club was undeniable, but there can be no overlooking the transformation that has happened under the guidance of this management team.
Jerome Stack will be widely praised for his contribution but every voice has clearly had a positive impact. Cian O’Dea’s work on the team’s physical preparation is evident, as is John Murray’s extensive knowledge of players and reading of a game.
Enda Nugent has proved himself as a fine manager and coach in his own right – the narrow intermediate loss to Castlerea looks more and more impressive with every step forward that St. Kevin’s take – while Niall Kelly’s tactical nous is evident in the team’s defensive shape and their outstanding ability to read a pitch and see where there is opportunity and where there is threat.
It’s the season for club officials to tear their hair out in the search for the right voices for their squad for the year ahead, but what has happened in Kiltoom is clear evidence of the importance of hitting the mark with that decision.
