Healy hits stunning winner as Craughwell celebrate

CRAUGHWELL 1-20

St. THOMAS’ 0-22

A GREY day in fading October this might have been, but for the village of Craughwell it gushed with colour as their senior hurlers battled their way to a first county final appearance since 1932 after an epic semi-final victory over St. Thomas’ at Kenny Park on Sunday.

This was a high tempo clash between two teams hitting the peak of their seasonal endeavours but just when it seemed that another gallant Craughwell effort was about to fall short, from somewhere, they tapped into a well of spirit and heart that just saw them over the line.

The tone for the match was set in the opening three minutes of frenetic action that produced five points from play as both sides displayed an admirable crispness of stickwork and a lightning pace off the mark.

Three minutes prior to referee Christy Browne sounding the interval whistle, when Niall Healy took a ball from Gerard Halloran before knifing his way through the St. Thomas’ defence to fire home the only goal of the match, many surmised that this would be the deciding score of the day.

Maybe in the end it was, but a lot of water had to flow under the bridge before that score was to eventually separate the sides, and as the third quarter of the game came to an end, St. Thomas’ looked to have the door well ajar on their way to a county final appearance.

John Burke’s side had put together a real productive period of hurling in first half injury time and in the opening 10 minutes of the second half — this was St. Thomas’ at their best: powerful on the ball and unerringly accurate at the scoring end of the pitch.

As the game ticked into first half injury time, they trailed Craughwell by 1-9 to 0-9 but five minutes into the second half, the outcome had been transformed inexorably . . . or so it seemed . . . as St. Thomas’ led by 0-17 to 1-9.

In first half injury time, St. Thomas’ centre back Darragh Burke converted a mammoth free while just before the interval whistle sounded, Richie Murray improvised quite smartly in a tight space to scoop the sliotar over the bar.

Those scores left the losers trailing by just one point at the break on a 1-9 to 0-11 scoreline but what followed in the opening minutes of the second half must have left Craughwell in something of a daze.

Within 30 seconds of the restart, Conor Cooney — coming back to his best form after an awful run of injuries — whipped over a 60 yard point and then landed a free with radar precision

The barrage on the Craughwell goal remained incessant for the following 10 minutes. The lively Bernard Burke pointed from play as did Kenneth Burke and sub Anthony Kelly while Cooney chipped in with another neat effort from play.  At 0-17 to 1-9 for St. Thomas’, this looked like a done deal.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.