Gary Sice pays tribute to Corofin for support following wife's death

Former Galway football star Gary Sice has paid tribute to his Corofin teammates for helping him come through the death of his wife last year.

Sice, who turned 39 this week, was the top scorer as he won his 13th Galway SFC medal in Corofin's 1-11 to 1-09 win over holders Maigh Cuilinn at Pearse Stadium.

In September last year, his wife Bevin died from cancer and Sice said his teammates and club colleagues had been a rock of strength for him and the couple's young daughter Sadhbh.

"It has been a tricky three or four years for me," he said. "Football has been a place to go and the club has looked after me outrageously well. I’m so grateful to everyone in the club.

"The family at home have given me the space to train and train properly and to get the body right and give as much as I could for as long as I could was the goal.

"I met my dad (Jimmy) out on the pitch there and it was just special. There have been tough times, very tough times and I’m just grateful to everyone who helped us through it."

"There have been tough times, very tough times and I'm just grateful to everyone who helped us through it."

Sice stood in the tunnel in Salthill with his daughter on his shoulders and commiserated with the Maigh Cuilinn players as they returned to the dressing room having surrendered their Galway and Connacht titles.

Sice has been there through all the glory days for Corofin but the national school teacher knows the value of this one as an infusion of young talent saw them capture their 22nd title, and a first since 2019.

But for all the youth coming through, it was Sice who showed the leadership when it was most needed against a Maigh Cuilinn side who were dealt a hammer blow in advance when Galway captain Seán Kelly was ruled out through