'Everyone to a man, put the shoulder to the wheel' - Burke holds special praise for his St. Thomas' charges

SEVENTH HEAVEN: St. Thomas manager Kenneth Burke during the Galway County Senior Hurling Championship Final Replay match between St Thomas and Loughrea 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 recent 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 another two gorgeous strikes before half-time to fully vindicate the move.

“We had to try something different,” said a delighted manager Kenneth Burke of the change post-match.

“It is an unbelievable feeling. Such a battle out there, down guys, others stood up. Mark Caulfield unbelievable game, 1-3.

“Everyone to a man, put the shoulder to the wheel. Dogged it out.” 

Play was nonstop and relentless with frees hard won. On the 20th 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 46 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. The first was from the halfway line into the gust. The second was even further out. No doubt over both.

“They were massive frees,” said Burke. “My god, against that wind I don’t know how he got them over to be honest. That is the calibre of Conor. In fairness he might not look as much in the game from play but he got tackles in, he was getting body in there, making it difficult for them. Nailed those frees when we needed them.” 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 as the champions’ defence held firm.

Six finals, five titles, no goals conceded.

“We challenge our backs to work as hard as possible. Don’t let them get easy scores,” explained Burke.

“Win their battles. We don’t really talk about it. Just make it really difficult for teams to play against us.” 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, C Cooney 0-4 (3 free), V Manso 0-1, B Burke 0-1, 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)