Galway hurling's new force

CIARAN TIERNEY

A new force has risen from the South and, on the basis of their thoroughly deserved county final victory over a battle-hardened Loughrea side on Sunday, the boys of St Thomas’ look set to become major players on the Galway club scene for years to come as youth is very much on the side of the new champions.

Perhaps this first senior success has come earlier than expected for a side who started with nine players who overcame the same opponents in last year’s U-21 decider, but there is no denying that the men in red are worthy title-holders.

Questions have been asked of them by both 2011 champions Gort, who took them to a semi-final replay, and Loughrea in recent weeks but John Burke’s youngsters have responded with the class and composure of true champions.

They were singing in the rain long into the night around the villages of Kilchreest, Castledaly, and Peterswell on Sunday, and rightly so, as county final wins hardly come sweeter for a small rural club than a gritty, close battle against more experienced ‘big town’ rivals.

Not since the last title success of a legendary, but fading, Sarsfields side back in 1997 has a club as small as St Thomas’ been crowned top dogs in Galway hurling and the genuine joy among their supporters was infectious as full-back and captain Robbie Murray stepped forward to collect the Tom Callanan Cup at Pearse Stadium. 

When the driving wind and rain arrived into Salthill hours before Met Eireann’s predictions, the feeling on the way to the ground was that the awful conditions would suit their more physical, more experienced rivals in grinding out only a second title success from their sixth county final appearance in 11 seasons.

To their credit, Loughrea never gave up the fight. They staged a spirited fightback, scoring 1-3 without reply to close the gap to just one goal in the final nine minutes, but a St Thomas’ victory was sweet justice for the younger side, who looked craftier, slicker, full of energy, and showed absolutely no big day nerves.

The final scoreline of 3-11 to 2-11 might suggest that it was a thriller in the driving rain, but the youthful men in red were the superior side throughout. When they led by 3-11 to 1-8 with just ten minutes left on the clock, quite a few neutrals in the 6,500-plus crowd must have considered making an early exit in the awful conditions.

It is a credit to both sides that they served up such a cracking mid-November county final, with hardly an unsavoury pull until the tension filled closing minutes when a Johnny Maher penalty – which should have been disallowed – gave Loughrea a scarcely deserved lifeline. 

Loughrea fielded with seven players who were featuring in their sixth county final and this latest defeat is bound to cause considerable soul-searching in the Town camp, given that they have only managed one title success (2006) since reaching their first modern decider in 2003.

Their record in reaching so many finals in over a decade of hurling shows wonderful consistency, but this was a bleak day for Vinnie and Johnny Maher, Damien McClearn, Gavin Keary, Brian Mahony and Johnny O’Loughlin, who each have only one county medal to show for those six final appearances.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.