St Thomas' claim fifth Galway title in a row with win over Loughrea

At the second time of asking, St Thomas' saw off Loughrea in Salthill to secure their fifth consecutive Galway senior hurling title

CRUCIAL SCORE: Mark Caulfield of St Thomas' celebrates after scoring a goal during the Galway county senior hurling championship final replay at Pearse Stadium in Galway. Pic: Ray Ryan/Sportsfile

St Thomas’ 1-15 Loughrea 0-17 

Late All-Ireland semi-final heartbreak. Far from flawless club form. Without key players Shane Cooney and James Regan. Brought to a replay. Still St Thomas’ refuse to yield. At the second time of asking, they saw off Loughrea in Salthill to secure their fifth consecutive Galway senior hurling title.

The small rural club have now lifted the Tom Callinan cup seven times. It is a remarkable total particularly given they only won their first in 2012.

Once again, Loughrea looked at ease on the big stage and started brightly even after winning the toss and playing against the breeze. Jamie Ryan was the focal point of their attack and hit four first half points, two from play.

Intercounty star Johnny Coen sat deep in the centre-back pocket and gave an exhibition of stick passing, with Galway midfield partner David Burke performing a similar role at the other side.

Ten minutes in St Thomas’ were one down when Conor Cooney collected a break in the centre and took off. He fed Mark Caulfield, redeployed from centre back last week to full forward today, who fired an unstoppable effort high into the net. He hit two gorgeous strikes before half-time to fully vindicate the move.

Play was nonstop and relentless with frees hard won. On the 20-minute mark, there was loud ironic cheers from Loughrea when Martin McManus was finally awarded a placed ball. Manager Tommy Kelly turned to the stand and gestured for more. The battle was far and wide.

Neil Keary converted the subsequent free and the gap was just one. It stayed that way until the turnaround.

Incredibly, the pace ramped up in the second half. Damien McGlynn had a glorious goal chance denied by Coen’s sweeping. Ryan and Gerald Kelly were booked for separate off-the-ball incidents and when Tiernan Killeen hit a monster in the 46th minute, they were level again.

Then the champions kicked for home. Conor Cooney finished the club championship with 4-79, nailing two crucial late frees. Despite four wides, Eanna Burke swung again and scored. David Burke soared and claimed the following puckout. Loughrea looked to rally couldn’t find the target with two late efforts.

After a year that started with heartbreak after TJ Reid’s stunning late goal, St Thomas’ will close 2022 out at the same stage again. They march on, with confidence and a cause.

Scorers for St Thomas’: Mark Caulfield, 1-3, V Manso 0-1, B Burke 0-1, C Cooney 0-4 (3 free), C Burke 0-1, E Burke 0-2, J Headd 0-1, D Burke 0-1, O Flannery 0-1. 

Scorers for Loughrea: J Ryan 0-4 (2 frees), N Keary 0-5 (4 frees), M McManus 0-2, J Mooney 0-1, T Killeen 0-3, C Killeen 0-1, Darren Shaughnessy 0-1.

St Thomas’: G Kelly, C Mahony, F Burke, J Headd, E Duggan, David Burke, C Burke, B Burke, V Manso, Darragh Burke, C Cooney (c), D McGlynn, E Burke, M Caulfield, O Flannery.

Subs: B Farrell for Burke (53), C Headd for Manso (58). 

Loughrea: G Loughnane, B Keary, P Hoban, K Hanrahan, Darren Shaughnessy, A Burns, O Coyle, Ian Hanrahan (c), J Coen, N Keary, J Mooney, T Killeen, M McManus, J Ryan, Dylan Shaughnessy.

Subs: B Keary for C Killeen (33), S O’Brien for D Shaughnessy (39), T Hoban for Burns (58).

Referee: John McDonagh (Kinvara).