Returning Burke digs deep to help Thomas' stay the distance

St Thomas' semi-final win was David Burke’s first competitive start in exactly 12 months.

Mon, 18 Dec, 2023 - 07:19

Eoghan Cormican

Saturday was David Burke’s first competitive start in exactly 12 months.

Across club and county, the 2017 All-Ireland winning captain hadn’t started a meaningful fixture since St Thomas’ All-Ireland semi-final no-show this weekend last year.

An ACL tear in March shunted the 33-year-old onto the sideline. A mere and almost miraculous seven and a half months later, he came off the bench during Thomas’ six-in-a-row Galway crowning.

Seven weeks further on, he thrashed and thrived for 90 minutes in the middle of a magnificently physical All-Ireland semi-final.

“Inside in the dressing-room before extra-time, I was getting a rub and management were looking over at me. I said I’d stay going as long as I could. I don’t think they wanted me to come off either. ‘Stay out there as long as you can’ was the message,” said an ecstatic and exhausted Burke.

Thomas’ didn’t outlast Ballygunner. Rather, they held onto them and held them down long enough to allow the outcome be decided by composure and coolness over the placed ball.

“Oh my God, you could see the hits going in. Our ability to stay with Ballygunner in that duel on the ground, we did well at it at times, so that was the reason we were still in the game even when they were on top in extra-time.”

The belief coursing through their four successful penalty takers was a continuation of the unshakable belief Thomas’ had displayed over the previous hour and a half.

Although they never led between the 36th and 82nd minute, the Galway champions never stopped believing that the favourites could be dumbfounded and dumped out.

“Definitely, 100%,” Burke continued. “The last few years, we probably didn’t do ourselves justice. We probably took a bit of criticism, maybe it was due, but we said whatever happened today, we just need to leave everything on the line and give a performance.

“They’re an unbelievable team and their physicality is just at a different level, like nothing we played against before. It’s going to bring us on. We just need to enjoy the moment now, regroup, and we have to finish the job.”

January’s decider will be their third All-Ireland club final appearance in 11 years. Within this period, there have been eight Galway titles and outright success back in the spring of 2013. Burke, though, reckons Saturday night was their best ever.

“It was an unbelievable performance. For supporters to come down here at half-seven on a night like this and witness something like that, it’ll probably go down as one of the greatest club semi-finals of all time.

“So to be a part of it and come out the right side of it, on penalties albeit, it’s probably a hard way to go out, but it’s great on our side to win it.”

For Ballygunner, further All-Ireland semi-final heartbreak. A third defeat at the penultimate hurdle since 2019.

Beaten manager Darragh O’Sullivan said their opponents had been grossly undervalued beforehand. He also hinted at a slight dissatisfaction with regard to scoreable frees awarded on either side.

“They’re a serious team, and I don’t think they got the respect they deserved coming into it. People were talking about hpw Ballygunner were going to go out and win it easily enough. That’s nonsense in my opinion.

“We knew coming up here that this had to be our best performance this year to get over that game. And we prepared like that.

“It was a strong wind there. But they were getting frees. How many frees did they get, 12 points from frees or something like that (13)? I don’t know how many we got from frees. And against that wind, that’s where they were getting them.

“It’s hard to analyse it now. Very disappointed. But we’re not disappointed with the lads – the lads gave everything.”