David Burke still on the mend despite helping St Thomas secure sixth county in a row

“There still was an awful lot of work to do, I don’t want people to think I’ve recovered unbelievably from the cruciate but I still have a good bit of work left to do," said Burke.

HAPPY FAMILY: David Burke of St Thomas celebrates with his child Robyn and wife Laura after the Galway County Senior Club Hurling Championship final. Photo by Ray Ryan/Sportsfile

Galway’s 2017 All-Ireland winning captain David Burke says he still has a long way to go in his recovery from a cruciate knee injury despite coming on in the closing stages to see St Thomas’ over the line for their sixth county title in a row on Sunday.

A superb sideline from the 33-year old led to skipper Conor Cooney setting up Eanna Burke for the clinching goal against Turloughmore, crowning a remarkable comeback by Burke since he underwent surgery early in April.

Burke said that while he never lost sight of the notion of being back for a county final, he just concentrated on each physio and training session and built from there.

“You just hit markers in your own head, you are doing your recovery, doing your rehab,” said Burke. “I was lucky enough to have the couple of summer months off as a teacher, probably helped a little bit.

“There still was an awful lot of work to do, I don’t want people to think I’ve recovered unbelievably from the cruciate but I still have a good bit of work left to do.

“I’m in a good place, have a winter of hurling ahead, of training, the body feels good. It’s all about managing that and the recovery, I’ll train away these next few weeks and try to put myself in a position to help the team out. I put everything into it over the summer, because you don’t get these chances too often.”

He watched clubmates Shane Cooney and James Regan come back from similar injuries in recent years while his older brother Kenneth, the St Thomas manager, said the sight of the 2017 All-Ireland winning captain working away on his own at every training session was inspirational for the other team members.

Burke, who remained involved on the sideline with Henry Shefflin’s Galway during the year after the injury, said he had other matters to occupy his mind as well during the recovery period, not least the birth of his daughter; Robyn.

“Myself and Laura had a baby this year, baby Robyn, she’s been mighty. The baby came along after I got the injury, she’s been great all summer, a couple of months old so she keeps us up at night and keeps us honest, trying to balance both.

David Burke celebrates with his family and the cup.

"It’s great and it’s brilliant that, seeing the kids all with Thomas’ jerseys and hats on, that they can all be part of this. They’re the next generation and that’s what we are all about,” said Burke, whose dad John managed them to their first success in 2012 when they reached their first ever county final.

They have now won eight titles, never lost a final, and have introduced fresh faces every year despite a catchment area of around just 200 houses.

“Definitely the best bunch of lads in the county and that’s why we’re champions,” added Burke. “If you see our training sessions, the lads are getting stuck in every day and in the matches we play, they’re driving on the lads who are playing the matches on the field, so it’s no coincidence and I am delighted for the group that we got over the line.

“There are some serious lads coming through, young lads who are serious hurlers and are pushing other lads for places so that’s what you need and you need one or two every year driving lads on.

"The couple of lads we’ve got through every year are really making the group better, the lads who are training away behind the scenes are ferocious in training.

“That’s what you need, not lads who are wasting their time and in fairness those lads have really grinded it out this year again. Where it happens is at the training ground and we played like that in the final,” added the four-time All Star.