A priceless win for 14-man St Thomas’ in hectic finish

St Thomas’ 1-19

Castlegar 4-9

A red card, two injury time goals, a penalty in the 64th minute and a one point winning margin. On the face of it, this clash between St Thomas’ and Castlegar had it all. In reality, however, a frenetic finale merely glossed over the fairly tame 60 minutes that had preceded it.

A horrible, wet evening in Kenny Park made playing conditions far from ideal and though both sides served up some nice scores, the game went through several lulls, particularly in the second half. It was as if both teams were waiting for those final moments and it came close to being worth it as they served up quite a show in those five minutes of injury time.

St Thomas’ ended normal time six points to the good and moments away from a vital first win in Group B of this year’s Senior A Championship. Castlegar had failed to get going in the second half up to this point but when their first defeat in the group loomed large, they sprang into action.

Understandably, as the game passed the 60 minute mark, the city side had resorted to pumping long balls into the St Thomas’ goalmouth and Castlegar’s third goal of the contest came from one such delivery. In the scramble, the ball broke out to Donal Barry and though the midfielder’s strike was blocked initially, Enda Concannon was on and to finish to the net.

That left Castlegar a goal behind, 1-18 to 3-9, but in their search for the equalising score, St Thomas’ exploited the gaps they left at the back. Substitute Brendan Farrell won the ball 45m from the Castlegar posts and after a strong run, he played in Eanna Burke, who was dragged down in front of goal. Burke opted to put the resulting penalty over the bar, giving his side a four point cushion but Castlegar still hadn’t given up.

65 minutes in, another long ball, another goalmouth scramble and this time it appeared to be Padraig O’Flynn who got the final touch, sending it past Patrick Skehill in the St Thomas’ goal. Unfortunately for Castlegar, it proved to be the last play of the game.

The game started fairly brightly, David Burke opening the scoring in the 4th minute with Ger Farragher and Conor Cooney converting placed balls in the following couple of minutes. Enda Concannon levelled matters with a good score from the right wing before Castlegar struck in the 10th minute for the game’s first goal.

John Connor’s puck out was flicked forward by John O’Brien and when St Thomas’ Fintan Burke misread the hop, it allowed Jack Coyne to steal in and direct the ball past Patrick Skehill and into the net. St Thomas’ responded well to the concession, however, as they struck the next four points through Conor Cooney, Bernard Burke, David Burke and Eanna Burke.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.