Canning keen to keep Pearses focused after Corofin win
By Kevin Egan
In terms of the race for the Andy Merrigan Cup, Pádraig Pearses taking down championship favourites Corofin was by far the most consequential of the eight games that took place across the four provinces last weekend.
Dr Crokes will be the overwhelming favourites to win Munster after accounting for Castlehaven while Cuala will be hotly fancied in Leinster too on the back of their win over a Naas side that was perceived to be the biggest threat to Dublin’s vice-like grip on the provincial championship on the eastern side of the Shannon. But no result shook up the market like Pearses knocking out the championship front runners.
Suddenly, the Woodmount club were in the conversation as potential All-Ireland champions. That was until Frank Canning tried to put a different perspective on things.
“Today was only the quarter-final of the Connacht championship,” said the Portumna native.
“Every club in the country knows that if you win a quarter-final in your club championship, there is nothing won. It is only another building block really.”
On the game itself, he was equally circumspect, balancing his praise for his team’s opening half performance with a much more downbeat reflection on the action after half-time.
“Corofin got the first two points of the game but we were very happy with our application after that. We played some really good football, but got a rude awakening in the second half. It wasn’t as pretty," he said.
“We should have taken a score at the start of the second half. Eoin (Colleran) was in and he went for a goal. I can’t blame him for going for a goal, but if he fisted it over the bar it would have been a great start to the second half and it would have sucked a bit of life out of Corofin.
"We actually created a good bit in the second half, but our final application was poor I thought.”
To some people, the very fact that Pearses upset the odds so comprehensively would be a clear indicator that this was a very positive display all-round.
Canning’s take was that his team weren’t as far off Corofin as all that before the start, and that the tables will turn this coming weekend when the Roscommon champions face Mohill of Leitrim.
“The bookies don’t always get it right, they are not analysing games properly,” he said of the 7/2 odds that were on offer about a Pearses win.
“Corofin are an iconic club, they are known nationwide in the 32 counties. That fed into the bookies as well. That’s not to say that Corofin didn’t deserve to be favourites today, but not as highly fancied as maybe the bookies were making them out to be," said Canning.
“Now the shoe is probably on the other foot. The bookies will probably be disrespectful to Mohill now next week. It is just the way they do it,” he added.