Mountbellew/Moylough 1-12 Corofin 0-09
Mountbellew-Moylough produced a stunning display to capture their first Galway SFC title since 1986 with a thoroughly deserved six-point win over reigning All-Ireland club champions Corofin at Pearse Stadium.
Mountbellew-Moylough, who lost four of the last six finals, three of them to Corofin, laid the foundation for victory in the opening half when they led by 0-08 to 0-03 having played with the wind.
And they never allowed Corofin get a foothold in the second-half as they drove on to win their fourth Galway crown and first since manager Val Daly captained them to victory 35 years ago.
Mountbellew-Moylough got on top from the outset and put the Corofin kickout under serious pressure with Michael Daly and Matthew Barrett dominating midfield and with Eoin Finnerty and Barry McHugh in top form up front, they built up a good lead as Corofin struggled to get a foothold.
Finnerty, McHugh and John Daly found the range to lead by three after eight minutes before midfielder Ronan Steede got Corofin off the mark with a good point from the right.
Mountbellew-Moylough hit back and joint-captain Finnerty landed two in a row and Michael Daly and McHugh also hit the target to lead by 0-07 to 0-01 after 19 minutes.
Corofin responded with points from Dylan Canney and a free from Darragh Silke but Mountbellew-Moylough finished the half impressively with McHugh adding a free from 50 metres to lead by five at the interval.
McHugh extended the lead five minutes after the restart and then Colin Ryan and Michael Daly combined to send Finnerty through and he blasted to the roof of the net to lead by 1-09 to 0-03.
Jason Leonard pulled a point for Corofin before Paul Donnellan and Canney swapped points for Mountbellew-Moylough to lead by 1-10 to 0-06 at the second water break.
Corofin never looked like saving the day from there as Mountbellew-Moylough finished strongly to claim the title, despite losing McHugh to a second yellow card in the dying moments.
Mountbellew-Moylough: Damien Boyle, Billy Mannion, Colin Murray, Mark Mannion; John Daly (0-01), James Foley, Colin Ryan; Michael Daly (0-01), Matthew Barrett; Paul Donnellan (0-01), Shane Moran, Gerard Donohue; Paddy Kelly, Eoin Finnerty (1-03, 0-01m), Barry McHugh (0-05, 3f)
Subs: Gary Sweeney for M Mannion (38), Aaron McHugh for Ryan (43), Leo Donnellan for Paul Donnellan (50), Stephen Boyle (0-01) for Donohue (55).
Corofin: Bernard Power, Dylan McHugh, Liam Silke, Cathal Silke; Gavin Burke, Dylan Wall, Colin Brady; Daithi Burke, Ronan Steede (0-01); Kieran Molloy, Michael Lundy (0-01), Jason Leonard (0-02, 1f); Darragh Silke (0-02, 1f), Martin Farragher, Dylan Canney (0-03).
Subs: Tony Gill for Brady (half-time), Ciaran McGrath for C Silke (43), Conor Newell for Molloy (43), Michael Farragher for Martin Farragher (46), Matthew Cooley for Burke (46).
Referee: Thomas Murphy (Annaghdown).
