Sweet revenge for St. Thomas' in local derby

Date Published: 09-Jun-2010

St. Thomas’ 1-15 Gort 1-13

Darren Kelly

in Athenry

THE final game in Kenny Park last Sunday provided an exciting encounter as St. Thomas’ two point victory secured their place in the knock-out stages of the senior hurling championship.

Gort would have been guaranteed top spot with the win but instead the injury picked up by Aidan Harte early in the game will have the Galway management monitoring the extent of his groin problem to see if there is any chance of Harte’s involvement against Offaly on Sunday week.

Both sides took a while to get going and were guilty of three wides each before wing back Enda Tannion opened the scoring for St. Thomas on five minutes. Andy Coen replied with a long effort 60 seconds later for Gort but already, St. Thomas’ were showing signs of a team on form and raced into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead.

Bernard Burke put them in front straight after Coen’s effort before Anthony Kelly set up Kenneth Burke for a score and Bernard Burke turned provider for Richie Murray.Things could have been different in the ninth minute when Paul Killilea was tripped just outside the square. Referee Leonard Fay seemed to indicate a penalty at first for Gort but five men stood on the line.

Gerry Quinn still went low before the defensive wall held its ground.Tannion stretched St. Thomas’ lead to four in the 12th minute before Harte responded for Gort on the quarter-hour mark. But they were struggling to match the pace of John Burke’s team who continued picking out scores easily.

David Burke registered his first point from a free before Bernard Burke got his second in a move involving James Regan and Murray to give St. Thomas’ a 0-7 to 0-2 lead.Quinn sent over his first free for Gort in the 19th minute but then St. Thomas’ seemed to have delivered the critical blow.

David Burke’s free put five between them again before they scored their goal.Sean Skehill’s long delivery was kept in play by the hard working Kelly whose work rate was instrumental for St. Thomas. Kelly then forced a mistake by the Gort defence and Kenneth Burke in space drilled to the bottom corner.1-8 to 0-3 now, Gort needed to respond and did within two minutes.

After St. Thomas threatened another goal when John Conroy forced a save from Peter Cummins, Ollie Fahy got in behind Robert Murray and fed Harte who turned to Richie Cummins in space and Patrick Skehill had no chance.

St. Thomas’ did finish the half with two more points from Kenneth and David Burke while Quinn responded with a Gort free but Cummins’ goal had put Gort back in the match with the half-time deficit just six points (1-10 to 1-4).

The injured Harte made way for Albert Mullins before the break and Gerald O’Donoghue would also make an appearance for Gort and they were instrumental in getting their side back into the game.Scoring was low for the third quarter as, like the first, both sides took their time to get the radar right.

Gort outscored St. Thomas by 0-3 to 0-1 in the first 19 minutes with a Quinn free and two 65s from Coen against a Kenneth Burke point.But the last 10 minutes would witness 10 further points in a thrilling conclusion that kept spectators guessing until the end.

David Burke restored a five point lead before an O’Donoghue brace and one from Mullins brought it back to two points (1-12 to 1-10).St. Thomas’ threatened goal again from Kenneth Burke but Gort had the momentum. However, points in the final five minutes from two Kenneth Burke frees and one from Regan ensured the Kilchreest/Peterswell outfit would hold on.

Mullins and two late Killilea points would conclude Gort’s scoring but their quarter-final hopes are still very much in their own hands.St. Thomas (three wins from four games) lead the Group B table ahead of Gort and Tommie Larkins (two wins each from three games). Both sides will be favoured to beat Tynagh-Abbey-Duniry and Turloughmore respectively with a Gort win should be enough for top spot.

That being said, Tynagh-Abbey-Duniry (one win from three games) still harbour qualifying ambitions so Gort should be wary ahead of their final group game.Jason Grealish and Coen were the pick of the Gort defenders, Mullins and ODonoghue had an impact upon their introductions while Killilea maintained a healthy involvement throughout the hour.

St. Thomas’, gaining revenge foir two recent county U-21 final defeats, were at full flight in the first half especially and will take some stopping if they take this form into the autumn. Robert Murray (the goal aside), Cathal Burke and Tannion did well in defence; David Burke was influential in the middle, while Bernard Burke, Kenneth Burke and Kelly were the top attackers.

St. Thomas’: D. Burke; J. Kelly, Robert Murray, C. Burke; E. Tannion (0-2), S. Burke, D. Cooney; D. Burke (0-4, two frees), B. Burke (0-2); S. Skehill, Richard Murray (0-1), J. Conroy; J. Regan (0-1), K. Burke (1-5, two frees), A. Kelly. Subs used: G. Murray for S. Skehill (46 mins), S. Skehill for J. Kelly (54 mins), C. Kelly for A. Kelly (60 mins).

Gort: P. Cummins; M. McMahon, T. Linnane, M. Cummins; J. Grealish, G. Lally, B. Regan; A. Coen (0-3, two ‘65s), S. Forde; G. Quinn (0-3, all frees), P. Killilea (0-2), A. Harte (0-1); R. Cummins (1-0), O. Fahy, M. Nestor. Subs used: A. Mullins (0-2) for Harte (HT), G. O’Donoghue (0-2) for Regan (46 mins).Referee: L. Fay