St Thomas’ astonishing run of county senior hurling title wins now stretches to five in a row after last Sunday’s gripping replay against Loughrea.
It went right to the wire before Kenneth Burke’s side held its nerve down the stretch to seal a one-point win by 1-15 to 0-17.
There was no shame in defeat for Loughrea, who once again provided St Thomas’ with the sternest of challenges, but ultimately they came up short because their shooting, when the pressure was most keenly felt, was not up to their usual high standards.
When Loughrea took the lead for the fifth time with just seven minutes remaining, they had outscored St Thomas’ by four points to one in a 10-minute spell and looked to set to prevail.
St Thomas’ though, are nothing if not battle-hardened, and Conor Cooney was soon nailing two massive frees from distance to re-take the initiative.
Eanna Burke then floated onto a breaking ball and made it a two-point game after Neil Keary had missed a relatively straightforward free for Loughrea moments beforehand. It left the challengers desperate for shooting opportunities as four minutes of stoppage time began.
They created three more, but agonisingly only converted one, allowing St Thomas’ to hold on for a remarkable victory, achieved without the injured trio of James Regan, Shane Cooney, and Damien Sherry.
The winners had nine contributors to their winning tally, with Mark Caulfield their top scorer with a hugely important haul of 1-3. Conor Cooney’s surge through the middle of the Loughrea defence in the 11th minute led to a well-struck goal by Caulfield and meant that St Thomas’ were never going to be chasing the replay as they had the first game.
Jamie Ryan was on fire for Loughrea in the early minutes, but it didn’t take long for St Thomas’ to commit plenty of bodies to their defensive efforts, with both inside lines struggling for space.
Cian Mahony’s duel with Martin McManus was a highlight, but Loughrea had some reason to be frustrated by lenient refereeing, which played into the defenders' hands.
Paul Hoban and Kieran Hanrahan had immense games for Loughrea, but David and Fintan Burke provided cool heads when needed most for St Thomas’.
St Thomas’: G Kelly; E Duggan, F Burke, C Mahony; J Headd (0-1 ), David Burke, C Burke (0-1 ), B Burke (0-1 ), V Manso (0-1; Darragh Burke (0-1 ), C Cooney (0-4, 3fs ), D McGlynn; E Burke (0-2 ), M Caulfield (1-3 ), O Flannery (0-1 ). Subs: B Farrell for B Burke (53 ), C Headd for Manso (58 ).
Loughrea: G Loughnane; J Coen, P Hoban, K Hanrahan; Darren Shaughnessy (0-1 ), I Hanrahan, B Keary; O Coyle, T Killeen (0-3 ); N Keary (0-5, 4fs ), J Mooney (0-1 ), A Burns; M McManus (0-2 ), J Ryan (0-4, 2fs ), Dylan Shaughnessy. Subs: C Killeen (0-1 ) for B Keary (33 ), S O’Brien for Dylan Shaughnessy (39 ), T Hoban for Burns (58 ).
Referee: J McDonagh.
