14-man Mountbellew-Moylough captured their first Galway SFC title since 1986 and fifth in all thanks to an impressive 1-12 to 0-9 victory over Corofin.

Over the past six years, Val Daly's side have been beaten in four finals, three of which came against Corofin, but their performance against the reigning All-Ireland champions at Pearse Stadium this afternoon laid those ghosts to rest. Indeed, manager Daly was part of the last Mountbellew-Moylough team to bring home the Frank Fox Cup and his sons Michael and John have now followed in his footsteps.

The pre-match underdogs were much the better team, and laid the foundations for a memorable win in the opening period when they built up an 0-8 to 0-3 interval lead. Points from man-of-the-match and captain Eoin Finnerty (3), Barry McHugh (3) and the Daly brothers had them well in control. They could afford the luxury of hitting six first-half wides compared to none for Corofin, who were chasing an eight success in nine seasons.

Mountbellew-Moylough's Aaron McHugh and Eoin Finnerty lift the Frank Fox Cup. ©INPHO/Bryan Keane.

McHugh picked up from where he left off after the break with another pointed free, and on their next attack, Mountbellew-Moylough cut through the middle like knife through butter for full-forward Finnerty to blast home the clinching goal in the 36th minute. That left them eight points to the good, 1-9 to 0-4. There was no way back for a shell-shocked Corofin thereafter as McHugh received a second yellow card late on.

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