St. Brigid's hopeful of breaking new ground
Brian Stack in action against Corofin's Ciarán McGrath during the 2016 Connacht club senior football final in Carrick-on-Shannon, a game the Galway champions won comfortably on their way to winning the first of their three All-Ireland titles in a row. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie
It was once a rivalry that captured the imagination of the province, and while an inevitable period of transition, and Covid-19 to a lesser extent, has kept both clubs out of the limelight in recent years, the thought of St. Brigid’s and Corofin locking horns once more in next Sunday’s AIB Connacht club senior football championship final at Dr. Hyde Park is one to whet the appetite (throw-in is at 1.30 p.m.).
For the first time this season, St. Brigid’s will be the underdogs. Meanwhile, the general consensus is that Corofin have got their mojo back, and their routine dismissal of Ballina Stephenites in the provincial semi-final sent out an emphatic warning shot that the most prolific club side in Connacht is back, and mean business.
Yet, St. Brigid’s are not without hope. They’ve won their last four championship games in Dr. Hyde Park, and dabbling with two provincial games to get used to life at this level will have been an invaluable education. Whether they’re ready, and grizzled enough, to take on the Corofin machine and harbour realistic ambitions of winning the club’s fifth Connacht club title — and first since 2012 — remains to be seen.
Karol Mannion’s wonder goal in the 2006 decider at the same venue ignited a spark between the two clubs that fanned the flames for the 2011 final when a Brigid’s team — approaching their pomp — edged out their Galway opponents in a tempestuous encounter at Kiltoom.
By the time they met again in 2016 in Carrick-on-Shannon, St. Brigid’s value on the stock market was falling rapidly, and a 2-13 to 0-5 victory for Corofin left no one in any doubt that the balance of power had shifted in the province.
From that St. Brigid’s team, only Ronan and Brian Stack, Mark Daly and Eoin Sheehy are in contention to see action on Sunday. Darragh Sheehy, who lined out at corner-back on that sobering afternoon, is injured, so the changing of the guard around Kiltoom has been seismic.
There has been a transition in Corofin, but not to the extent that Brigid’s have endured. Bernard Power, Liam Silke, Cathal Silke, Conor Cunningham, Ronan Steede, Michael Lundy, Daithí Burke, Michael Farragher and, of course, Gary Sice have been down this road before. Youthful exuberance, typified by the emergence of 19-year-old corner-forward Jack McCabe, means that Corofin have seamlessly fitted in players around the park. Captain Dylan McHugh has impressed for Galway in recent campaigns, so it’s fair to deduce that this is a team capable of returning to the former glories they enjoyed pre-Covid when no one could hold a candle to them on the national stage.
While St. Brigid’s have plenty of personnel who know a thing or two about big games with Roscommon, this is the ultimate test. In 2020, they came with an exciting young team to sweep all before them in the county. So this group of players knows what it’s like to strike when the iron is hot, albeit the pandemic denied them the opportunity to test themselves in Connacht that year.
They may be set to dominate the local landscape over the coming campaigns but becoming top dog in the province will, more than likely, be a more arduous task.
Corofin’s lightning quick transition from defence to attack makes patience in possession the key for Brigid’s. The Galway champions are going to be more adventurous, and ruthless, than Brigid’s last two opponents in the province, so Jerome Stack’s men are going to have to learn to swim very quickly.
They may get that split-second extra in possession, but how they utilise the speed and adventure of Ben O’Carroll and Bobby Nugent in attack will be crucial. Paul McGrath needs to rediscover the artistry that allowed him to link the play so well in the Roscommon championship. Needless to say, Eddie Nolan and Shane Cunnane are going to have to deliver massive games around the middle, while Brian Stack will need to be firing on all cylinders, despite picking up a knee injury against Coolera/Strandhill.
Tradition alone suggests that you write off St. Brigid’s at your peril. But this isn’t a Corofin side looking to reel off their fourth or fifth Connacht club title on the bounce. Having been on the periphery since their tenth, and last, provincial title since 2019, the hunger and desire appear to be as vibrant as ever.
Those traits won’t be an issue for Brigid’s as they aim to follow in the footsteps of the club’s all-conquering side of the last decade. They may well eventually climb the mountain scaled by their predecessors, but, to manage it at the first time of asking, would be some feat that may just be beyond them.
