Corofin likely, but not certain, to succeed
October 2nd, 2009 by Kevin EganWith TG4 resuming their coverage of club action, there is an unexpected bonus for those of us looking at a bet this weekend – their live broadcast of the Donegal and Galway county finals means that there is a much wider range of markets available for betting on these games, and more markets, as always, means more opportunity for the punter.
The obvious selection would be Corofin to win by a narrow margin in the Galway decider, however at 9/4 for the champions to win by 1-3pts, the compilers are clearly thinking along very similar lines to this column. Corofin are not unlike Crossmaglen Rangers at their peak in that they win games – they rarely win by much, they don’t have any great style about them, but they win. So it is with Corofin in Galway and even beyond. They suffocate the life out of teams, strangling opposing forwards, as evidenced by their last three games where they conceded 2-5, 0-10 and 0-8, all against useful forward lines.
This weekend they meet Mountbellew-Moylough, a team not many would have expected to feature in a county final. After a disastrous league, the black and amber boys have put together an excellent championship run and their semi-final win over Caltra where eight players contributed to a 3-11 tally was an excellent performance, without doubt their best of the season. Manager Cyril Ryan is using county star Joe Bergin as a target man on the edge of the square this year and with Cathal Kenny pulling the strings around the middle of the field, the big man has been very difficult to handle.
Corofin too could find Bergin to be a very difficult opponent to handle. Kieran Fitzgerald is likely to be handed the responsibility and a stickier marker than Fitzgerald is hard to find in football, but Bergin’s physical presence is not something Fitzgerald will find easy to handle. When combined with Michael Comer’s injury, there are reasons for worrying about Corofin here.
It’s probably not worth gambling on them at 1/2, even though they still should win, while the margin bets are simply too skimpy at the prices offered. What does appeal is the Corofin/Corofin double result at even money. Corofin’s trademark style is to get a narrow lead and hold it. They tend to lead from early in games. Pearse Stadium is always a factor in that the strong winds that regularly blow down the field could play a part and introduce a random element to this bet, but nonetheless a 1pt bet on Corofin to lead at half time and full time at 1/1 is recommended.
Looking at the rest of the bets on offer, it’s odds on selections that appear to offer the best value. Most interestingly, Tír Chonaill Gaels are 4/9 to beat Neasden in the London SFC final and that looks to be well worthy of a 2pt bet. The Gaels are looking for three in a row and have been the dominant force in London football for some time. Neasden have added a couple of decent players including Galway’s Paul Geraghty, but Tír Chonaill have a few new recruits of their own and should be too strong in a repeat of last year’s decider. Their run of supremacy will come to an end in London at some point, but Neasden don’t look ready to usurp them.
Garrycastle at 4/9 are a class ahead of St Lomans in Westmeath and have rediscovered their form under the tutelege of Anthony Cunningham this year and they should win easily enough as well, while Cavan Gaels are a very safe bet, albeit at the prohibitively short odds of 1/6. No recommendation on these games, simply because the other two are stronger bets.
If one outsider bet was to be picked this week, it would have to be St Josephs of Laois to beat Portlaoise at odds of 5/1. Reasons for thinking Portlaoise should win this game are plentiful. Portlaoise have sliced and diced every opponent they have met so far this year, they are one of the best club sides in Leinster and they have an excellent mix of youth and experience in the team. If this game comes even close to following form, they will win with plenty to spare – however these two clubs have a lot of history dating back to the earlier part of this decade, and this St Josephs team, while they aren’t free scoring or hugely skilful, are masters at grinding out results. A free flowing match will see Portlaoise win this with plenty to spare, but one should never underestimate the value of a real grudge in games like this.
We’re not going to officially put a bet on record here, but at 5/1, those who like a punt would do well to have a small investment and then hope that sparks begin to fly in O’Moore Park on Sunday. After all, acrimonious games in Laois GAA, if ever anything was worth betting on…..
Tags: Corofin, Tir Chonaill Gaels
Categories: Gaelic Football
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