Much water has passed under the bridge since St Thomas’ and Loughrea last met in an infamous county senior hurling final in 2012, but the near neighbours will lock horns once again on Sunday in Pearse Stadium (1.30pm ) as the county champions look to keep a firm grip on the Tom Callinan cup for the fifth year running.
Incredibly, there are eight St Thomas' players who saw action in that unruly final looking to collect their seventh winners' medal in 11 seasons, an amazing achievement by any standards. It is something only two clubs, Turloughmore from 1956-1966, and Athenry, from 1994-2004, have ever managed in the competition before.
Focusing on the task at hand and the significant challenge that an unbeaten Loughrea side on the crest of a wave pose will be to the forefront of St Thomas’ manager Kenneth Burke’s messaging this week, but it will be hard not to allow thoughts to veer towards the historic nature of what St Thomas’ could be about to achieve.
By contrast, Loughrea’s loss in 2012 was their fifth final defeat in 10 years, with the club picking up only their second county title with a 2006 victory over Portumna. There are links to the 2012 team as Johnny Coen, Neil Keary, Sean Sweeney, and Jamie Ryan are all still heavily involved, while Gavin Keary is very much to the fore on the sideline.
The introduction of the split season may well have helped Loughrea’s cause this year, with plenty of high-class coaching with intercounty experience at their disposal as manager Tommy Kelly steers the ship prudently.
They will not be awed by the sense of occasion that a county final can bring to a town and will have their charges primed for a big performance.
Loughrea have been building steadily as the season progressed, clearing a significant hurdle with a one-point win over Tommy Larkins in the opening round, a side that had beaten them in both 2021 and 2020.
Eye-catching wins over Gort and Cappataggle sealed their place in the quarter-finals with a game to spare, while their form in the knockout stages has been just as convincing as Turloughmore and Clarinbridge were swept aside.
Joe Mooney’s time with Mayo earlier in the year has done his form no harm, with 4-11 to his name so far, but it is the emergence of Mark McManus (3-20 ) as another massive scoring threat that has helped Loughrea average almost 25 points a game while conceding only 18.
The problem is St Thomas’ have also averaged the same total, despite being on the end of a hammering from Turloughmore in the group stages.
They soared to the challenge with a rousing win over Clarinbridge before disposing of Cappataggle and Sarsfields in clinical fashion.
Conor Cooney (4-66 ) has been in majestic scoring form both from play and placed balls, while the unheralded Victor Manso has popped up with important goals along the way.
The odds are rightly stacked in St Thomas’ favour. They have a generational talent in David Burke, who is surrounded by a host of players blessed with guile, courage and a winning mentality.
For Loughrea to prevail and inflict a first ever final defeat on St Thomas’, they will have to do something no opponent has managed in the last four finals, which is raise at least one green flag. McManus and Mooney have been potent thus far, but whether they can produce the goods on Sunday will be fascinating to observe.
