St. ThomasÕ boss expects his team to learn from draw

IT was a game to remember and, looking at it, you would ask what more could St. Thomas’ and Loughgiel Shamrocks give? Quite a lot, remarked the respective managers after this absorbing fixture, noting there was plenty to improve on.

That’s the measure of champions . . . be they the Galway winners or, in Loughgiel’s case, the reigning All-Ireland holders. No matter how good a performance an individual or team can deliver, it can always be better. There is always room for improvement. This was a recurring theme throughout the post match discussion.

“Today was a big learning curve for our lads,” said St. Thomas’ boss Burke. “We have a young outfit and we never had this experience before. Even to come up here – and there was such a crowd – I was afraid it might just affect them a little bit but it didn’t bother them really, which was great. So, I think they will learn big time from this and it will bring them on a tonne.

“If someone told us beforehand we would have a match next week again, we would have taken it with two hands. So, we are delighted. We are after playing the All-Ireland champions and you could see out there why they are All-Ireland champions.

“We looked to be out the gate – gone – and they came back and when they went ahead, we fought back. And when we went ahead again, they came back at us again! So, it was probably a great game for the neutral supporters, the people above watching it, but it was hectic stuff for anyone on the sideline or anyone involved in it. It was hectic stuff.”

Indeed, Burke was delighted his charges would be getting a second shot at it, although he was disappointed that they failed to hold onto their four-point lead heading into the dying moments of extra-time.“We would be disappointed with that but I knew they were going to stay coming at us. That was the kind of game it was. It was tit-for-tat. Chances were going to come and when they came, Loughgiel took them.”

The last of those opportunities was a Loughgiel goal which came from a Liam Watson 20 metre free. Although the St. Thomas’ camp disputed the decision in the heat of the moment, Burke was more diplomatic in his reflection on the incident.

“They (officials) were closer to it than I was. Of course, I would be giving out about it but wouldn’t every manager? They called it and we were lucky that we were three points up. It would have been a killer if we were just two! It would have been a killer if we were two up and they got the goal. We have a shot at it another day and that’s what counts.”

Burke did not make an issue of the free count against his side either – which stood at 20-7 in Loughgiel’s favour – noting: “I will have to look at that. I would have to say, though, Loughgiel are a very disciplined team. Just look at the way they play. They don’t give away frees. You will earn your score. That is the way they play the game.”

In any event, Burke paid tribute to his players for their gritty displays, including Conor Cooney who shot 12 points on the day. “Conor was outstanding but he has been doing that day in, day out for us. He wins the dirty ball all the time. He is one of our top men but I have to commend every one of them. They fought to the end and it was hard going out there.

“The 33, 34, 35 or 36 players who went out there, they gave everything they had and nobody left anything on the field. I mean, you have to say, it was a hard, physical game but, you know, they just got on with it. That is the way hurling should be played.”

For more, read this week' Galway City Tribune.