Conor Cooney continues to dominate his club championship like few others can

“Radar! When he is in the zone, he is in the zone," Cyril Farrell  said of Cooney, who scored 1-14 from 15 shots in the Galway SHC final.

STAR MAN: Conor Cooney of St. Thomas lifts the cup. Photo by Ray Ryan/Sportsfile

This generation of players are their pioneers. 11 years after St Thomas’ took a quantum leap and won their first-ever Galway SHC title, they continue to break new ground. Powered on by the same emblematic source.

Champions come and go. Cyril Farrell knows that all too well. He watched previous dynasties blossom; others challenge and collapse. On Sunday he watched St Thomas’ 1-20 to 1-17 triumph over Sarsfields as the drive for a six-in-a-row perseveres.

Early in the tie, Conor Cooney stood over his third free of the day. He would go on to hit 1-14 from 15 shots. A penalty, a 65, four from play and eight unerring placed balls.

“It is a hard enough free for an ordinary guy, but this guy is not ordinary,” declared Farrell on Galway GAA’s coverage. Later in the second half, he marvelled as another long-range effort sailed over.

“Radar! When he is in the zone, he is in the zone. Every day for Thomas’ he never seems to be out of the zone.” Since 2012, the small parish club have contested eight county finals. One was a replay in 2022. They haven’t lost a single one across that spell. Cooney has been their top scorer in half of those deciders with a total of 2-41.

When the parish pool is small, pillars become even more important. Cooney has been the foundation upon which they built an empire.

Consecutive campaigns do take their toll. Fintan Burke was unable to start the 2019 final after tearing his cruciate in that year’s All-Ireland final defeat at the hands of Ballyhale Shamrocks.

David Burke missed the entire club championship prior to Sunday with the same injury, making a remarkable return from the bench in Pearse Stadium. They were without key players Shane Cooney and James Regan for the victory over Loughrea last November.

Cooney has been a consistent presence since their first final appearance in 2012. The centre forward was top scorer when they overcame Kilcormac/Killoughey in the All-Ireland club final. It was his two crucial late frees that saw them over the line in 2022.

St Thomas' Conor Cooney celebrates with his mother Mary. Pic: ©INPHO/Bryan Keane

Sarsfields set up to limit him and did so impressively, the dogged Niall Quinn keeping him to 13 possessions. Even still, while trapped in concrete, Cooney mined gold.

He was a successful puckout target five times, forced three turnovers and contributed three assists including a sensational sideline cut pass across the field. With just over 20 minutes left the defending champions have assumed a seven-point lead. Five minutes later the margin was reduced to just one.

Their talisman answered that call, intercepting a pass near the sideline close to halfway and immediately snapping over the score of the day off his left.

To their credit, Sarsfields continued to fight. Deep into injury time, they were two points down only for Cooney to collect the ball from a ruck and swing with his right. In isolation, it was a clutch score. Given what he has already contributed to their cause, it was colossal.

Perhaps it is due to that stretch of consistency that the sensation of winning seems to feel a little different. When the final whistle sounded, the sliotar was in Cooney’s assured hands.

He stood on the endline and clenched a muted fist, before turning to commiserate with his opponents. This brilliance is typical. Another step on his remarkable pilgrimage.

With Galway the 30-year-old is an All-Ireland winner and an All-Star. His athleticism and appetite for work was crucial in their All-Ireland win but since then there have been performance peaks and troughs.

This season he was dropped from Henry Shefflin’s starting side, coming on for fifteen minutes in the quarter-final and semi-final. For periods during his inter-county career, they have struggled to find his best role. For his county he has been valuable. He can be more.

In truth the trick is separating the two. St Thomas’ use Cooney where the need is greatest. He can do all things in all lines, so he does, drifting out the field liberally and gravitating towards the edge of the square when required. The same latitude can leave a fine talent looking lost in the inter-county sphere.

A sustained run on the edge of the square alongside his opponent from last weekend, the exhilarating Kevin Cooney, is a worthwhile experiment for Shefflin in 2024. Eamon O’Shea’s influence will be an intriguing subplot.

For now, for Cooney, that does not matter. In a fortnight, St Thomas’ will pursue their sixth Galway SHC title in a row. Only one team have done so previously, Turloughmore. After semi-final success over Loughrea, the same club stand in their way now. The next frontier.