Brazilian back home for the hurling – in Galway!

Most people chasing All-Ireland final tickets this week will proclaim to be Galway’s No. 1 supporter – but they’d do well to surpass former Gort hurler Leonardo Gomes, who has flown over 9,000km ‘home’ from Brazil to roar on the Tribesmen this Sunday.

Six years ago, Leonardo was being touted as the next great Gort and Galway centre-half back.

With his athletic build, superb ball winning ability and deft touch, the stylish defender was pushing opponents like Galway senior Conor Whelan from Kinvara and minor sharpshooter Evan Niland from Clarinbridge to the pin of their collar.

However, Leonardo, who had spent almost a decade in Gort, subsequently returned to Brazil with his family – taking his silky skills with him.

Still, he never let go of South Galway . . . and when Anthony Cunningham’s men vanquished Tipperary in the All-Ireland semi-final, the 18-year-old die-hard hurling fan made a vow that he would be in Croke Park to shout them on to All-Ireland glory.

On Tuesday evening, he duly landed back in Gort where he was met by his brother Anderson, who he hadn’t seen in two years, and his former club-mates and class-mates, who he has continued to keep in touch with through Facebook and Snapchat. It was emotional stuff. The prodigal son had come home.

Yesterday morning (Wednesday), Leonardo and his former mentor John Commins – a current Galway minor hurling selector – met up with former Gort NS Principal Francis O’Connor, now in Kilchreest NS, and the reunion again was poignant.

“Leo was the model,” says Mr. O’Connor. “He was the one. When he started, every other one (Brazilian) said this is what I want to play. The club has had a lot of success since he left, winning county titles, and there is no doubt that if he had stayed he would have won a county medal. We are not saying that flippantly.”

Indeed, it would not have been beyond the bounds of possibilities that the former defender would have crossed swords with the great Henry Shefflin of Kilkenny when Gort clashed with Ballyhale Shamrocks in the All-Ireland club semi-final earlier this year if he had not left. Both O’Connor and Commins believe he would have seen game-time.

“I was convinced that if Leonardo stayed around, he would have been playing county minor last year,” insists his former coach Commins. “Back in 2008, when they won the U-12 and U-14 ‘B’, he was an outstanding hurler. He stood out in all those matches all the way up along.”

Longing to see his brother, when Galway seniors won the All-Ireland semi-final, this was the sign that it was time for Leonardo to return to Ireland.

He will be home for a month and he is enjoying catching up with his friends and recounting the battles he had in the Gort jersey with many of the current Galway minor crop, along with his senior rival Conor Whelan, who he hopes to meet after Sunday’s game.

The club has secured Leonardo, who has himself played at Croke Park as a youngster previously, a Hill 16 ticket for the clash with the Cats.

“Yeah, I am really excited for the match,” he beams. “I have been practising a bit but when you walk around with a stick [in Brazil] everybody is thinking what is he going to do next? Is he going to rob the shop?” he laughs.

The other problem has been that he has nobody to play with. “I have to hit it and then go and hit it back to myself,” chuckles Leonardo, who has brought two of his hurls back to Gort with him, along with, of course, his Galway jersey.

See full story – and get your free All-Ireland Final supplement – in this week’s Connacht Tribune.