Glory beckons for Galway champs

STEPHEN GLENNON

They may be one of Galway’s youngest GAA clubs but St Thomas’s will be hoping that they can continue on the proud tradition of local teams in the All-Ireland club hurling series when they take on Kilcormac/Killoughey of Offaly in Croke Park on St Patrick’s Day (2pm).

Formed in 1968, St Thomas’s – the amalgamation of Kilchreest and Peterswell – was only 12 years old when Castlegar claimed the county’s first All-Ireland club crown in 1980. Since then, Kiltormer (1992), Sarsfields (’93 and ’94), Athenry (1997, 2001 and 2001), Portumna (2006, ’08 and ’09) and Clarinbridge (2011) have all achieved club hurling’s highest honour and, now, St Thomas’ have the opportunity to do the same.

It’s amazing the voyage St Thomas’ have been on in recent years, winning county ‘A’ championships at U-16 and minor levels in 2006 and 2008 and translating these into U-21 and senior titles in 2011 and 2012 respectively. It’s as if the journey to this present moment in time has been planned with military precision.

In many respects, it probably has and you only have to take a look back at the team-sheets from those underage finals to see the process at work. Goalkeeper Patrick Skehill has been a constant while the likes of Cathal Burke, Sean Skehill and Donal Cooney – a long term injury victim going into the All-Ireland final – have emerged as top-class defenders.

All-Star David Burke has formed the midfield partnership with Cian Kelly on those underage teams while, in attack, Conor Cooney, James Regan, Bernard Burke and Anthony Kelly have all made the transition from underage to senior look seamless.

In addition, the conveyor belt of talent has continued with the emergence of the likes of brothers Darragh and Eanna Burke – two of the six Burke brothers in the set-up – and teenager Shane Cooney, who really has grown into a formidable young man over the Winter period.

Of course, this is all well and good but if you don’t have a solid foundation, then senior success can become as elusive as a feather on a gale force wind. In this respect, captain Robert Murray, veteran defender Enda Tannian and Sean Burke all offer a calming influence in the defence.

Further afield, St Thomas’s can boast of the experience of Kenneth Burke – who has recovered from a shoulder injury – in midfield and former Galway star Richard Murray in attack.

Great credit must go to the club – and, in particular, the management team of boss John Burke and selectors Justin Flannery and Jimmy Kelly, now in their sixth year – for gelling the inexperienced with the experienced into an impressive working unit in a relatively short period of time.

Aside from that U-21 success in 2011, when they accounted for Loughrea, the signs were already there that St Thomas’s were a coming force when they reached the county senior semi-final that same year and most felt it was just a matter of time before the breakthrough would come.

That it duly arrived in 2012 speaks volumes for the ambition of this group of players who laid the previous year’s ghost to rest with a 1-16 to 1-15 semi-final replay victory over Gort before disposing of Loughrea in their historic county decider.

Richard Murray netted all his side’s goals in the 3-11 to 2-11 win and it was just reward for the talented former Galway player who, to some extent, carried the club, along with brother Robert and the evergreen Enda Tannian, on their shoulders on route to winning the county intermediate title in 2004 and in the early years of the club’s subsequent promotion to the senior ranks.

However, this St Thomas’s side no longer depend on the few and with the emergence of such talented hurlers like the Skehills – Patrick and Sean – and the Burke brothers – all six of them – St Thomas’s have become a top class outfit in the mould of Sarsfields, Athenry and Portumna.

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.