Burke’s men claim second county title after tough final battle

St. Thomas’ 1-11

Gort 0-10

Two minutes. In the end, that is what it took. Two minutes. Two minutes to decide this county final. Two minutes to define it. A disallowed goal for Gort followed by a 46th minute Sean Skehill strike from the resulting free out for St. Thomas’. All in two minutes.

Over 5,000 spectators turned up at Pearse Stadium on what was a horrific day for hurling and while the conditions impacted greatly on the standard of fare – and, by extension, the atmosphere around the ground – there was still enough intrigue in this one to send the neutrals home relatively happy.

In an ideal world, it would have been something to see this contest played on a dry, crisp Autumn day – as Saturday was – but unfortunately this was not the case and instead these two great rivals had to battle it out in weather conditions that would not have been out of place around the time of Noah’s Ark.

This game was to hinge on a couple of passages of play that straddled the three-quarter mark. By this time, St. Thomas’, who had hurled the better throughout, were three points ahead but when Pakie Lally sent a booming delivery into the Thomas’ danger area, and Michael Mullins got a touch for a 44th minute goal, Gort it appeared had just equalised.

However, there had been a suspicion of a square ball and the St. Thomas’ rearguard immediately remonstrated this point to the umpires. Referee Leonard Faye, to his credit, decided to consult, and the officials, giving the decision their utmost attention, finally agreed it was, indeed, a square ball.

Without the benefit of a video replay, it was a brave call by the officials. Mullins had not been in the square before Lally’s delivery but had arrived before the sliotar had reached its destination. It was close but the decision was the correct one.

Incredibly, from the resulting free out, the sliotar would end up in the back of the Gort net as centre-forward Darragh Burke forced the ball through the Gort cover and on hand to flick it over the advancing Gavin Lally was hero of the hour Skehill. A deft touch – not bad for a man who has spent most of his hurling career in defence.

Then again, St. Thomas’ successful county title bid – their second in five years – has been defined by the manner in which the their management of John Burke, Maurice Headd, Claude Geoghegan and coach Michael Haverty have reinvented and revitalised their team.

The move of Eanna Burke and James Regan, who had a superb first half, to defence took the scores they were conceding on average in their first four group games from 1-17 to 1-14 in their four ties in the knockout stages. You could say it was the difference on Sunday.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.