St. Thomas' make no mistake in quarter-final replay

Loughrea             0-12

ST. Thomas’ were well on their way to winning Sunday’s afternoon’s quarter-final replay before an astonishing late scoring spree put paid to any lingering hopes an understrength Loughrea side may have had of repeating last week’s escape act, with John Burke’s men now appearing the best placed side to challenge Gort for this year’s senior hurling crown.

They are short priced favourites to see off the challenge of Craughwell in this weekend’s semi-final and if the bookmakers can be believed then they will take on last year’s winners in the decider. With David Burke in imperious form at midfield, St. Thomas’ are returning to the sort of levels that saw them sweep all before them only a couple of years ago.

There were obviously factors at play that led to this result, with Loughrea’s injury list, much like the vanquished Irish rugby team, robbing them of a raft of star performers. Had Brian Mahony, Johnny Maher, and Johnny Coen all been fully fit Loughrea would have no doubt pushed St. Thomas’ a lot closer, but the quality of St. Thomas’ performance for large spells was such that they likely would have won regardless.

Loughrea’s best efforts were unfortunately hampered by some erratic free-taking that stopped them gaining any sort of momentum and there was also a missed first half penalty which lifted St. Thomas’ spirits. The 2006 champions were playing catch up from the early stages and even though they only trailed by five entering the final quarter, it was hard to see where inspiration would come from for a fightback.

The game had gone through a scrappy eight minute spell without a score when Conor Cooney pointed a free not long into the 51st minute to make it 1-12 to 0-9. When St. Thomas’ substitute Brendan Farrell glided onto a breaking ball and drove to the net the clock had barely passed the 52 minute mark, yet unbelievably the scoreboard now showed 3-14 to 0-9.

Richie Murray had pilfered his second goal of the contest during this whirlwind spell, his sense of positioning leading him to where Eanna Burke’s shot would land when it came back off the right upright. Eanna had also added a breathtaking point of his own in the interim, with David Burke also chipping in as he intercepted a short pass before landing the most routine of his three points from play.

The result was settled in those moments, there would be no repeat of the drawn game’s high drama, and the large crowd that had come expecting fireworks began to dissipate from Kenny Park. While Loughrea rattled off a few consolatory late points, it was fitting that Bernard Burke, a dynamic presence throughout, would end the game’s scoring with a long range point.

The same player had drifted a shot wide in the first minute, and Loughrea had a quality score on the board when Gearoid Loughnane played a clever ball down the left side for Neil Keary, who skimmed down the sideline before cutting in and pointing from a difficult angle. Keary’s normally reliable radar from placed balls, though, was slightly off and a third minute effort veered right and wide.

Full report in this week's Connacht Tribune