The return of St Thomas’ David Burke to the field of play was one of the main talking points from Sunday’s senior hurling championship semi-finals as the reigning title-holders booked their place in the final after a 1-20 to 1-17 victory over Sarsfields.
Burke has been on the recovery trail since picking up a cruciate knee ligament injury in March and was named among the subs in St Thomas’ last outing against Cappataggle, but Kenneth Burke decided his presence was necessary this time out to guide his team to victory over a gallant Sarsfields, who pushed the champions hard in the second half.
St Thomas’ looked to be in pole position when dead ball specialist Conor Cooney precisely found the bottom corner from the penalty spot with under 10 minutes to play, making it 1-19 to 0-15, but Sarsfields rallied impressively, with Kevin Cooney matching Cooney’s penalty conversion at the other end to maintain his run of having scored a goal in every game.
Ian Fox and Joseph Cooney were both denied levelling goals by St Thomas’ goalkeeper Gerald Kelly late on, and St Thomas’ are now very much within touching distance of equalling the six-in-a-row record set by Turloughmore between 1961 and 1966.
This will give Turloughmore even more incentive to end St Thomas’ glorious run when they meet in the final on October 29, a repeat of the 2020 decider. They scored four of the last five points in stoppage time against Loughrea to seal an upset 2-22 to 1-22 win.
Goals from Matthew Tarpey and Tom Quirke put Turlough in a great position, but Loughrea mounted an impressive comeback with Anthony Burns and Shane Morgan among the scorers as they got back on level terms by the 60th minute.
Shane O’Hanlon and Sean Linnane restored Turloughmore’s lead before free-taker Conor Walsh showed nerves of steel to bring his tally to 12 successful frees deep into injury time and seal a famous win for the men in black and white.
The senior B final had the most dramatic finish as Ahascragh-Fohenagh drew with Mullagh in Duggan Park on Saturday afternoon - Eoin Naughton striking a levelling score after goals had been scored at both ends in the space of an astonishing 60 seconds.
Kilconieron secured their senior A status with a 1-20 to 0-13 win over Portumna, with the victors scoring six points in a row in the first half to establish an advantage. David Connaughton’s second-half goal kept them in command on a day to forget for Portumna.
Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry were impressive winners over Meelick/Eyrecourt in their intermediate semi-final on Saturday, with former Galway players Paul Killeen, Padraig Brehony, and Shane Moloney all contributing handsomely to the 1-19 to 0-14 win.
Ballinderreen were victorious in the other semi-final over Sylane, with Niall Coen and David Mannion netting in a comfortable 2-21 to 2-10 win, while Skehana/Mountbellew/Moylough were promoted to the intermediate ranks after they beat Loughrea 1-13 to 0-13 in the Junior A final.
