Potential is there for St. ThomasÕ to take over

Date Published: 20-Feb-2013

THEY have yet to win the All-Ireland title, but the potential for St. Thomas’ to leave a lasting legacy similar to the three great Galway club teams, Sarsfields, Athenry and Portumna, is beyond dispute after they emphatically dismantled the challenge of title holders Loughgiel Shamrocks in a one-sided semi-final replay in Clones last Saturday.

At a Monaghan venue where both Athenry and Portumna have fallen in the past, the Galway champions recovered superbly from an unnerving start in continuing a fairytale season which will now conclude next month with an All-Ireland final date against Kilcormac Killoughey in Croke Park. It will be virgin territory for both teams which will add intrigue to the first Galway-Offaly club showdown since Portumna heavily defeated Birr in the spring of 2008.

Unlike the high scoring drawn affair the previous weekend in Parnell Park, Saturday’s replay was a much more defensive orientated contest with Loughgiel packing their half-back area in a clear attempt to nullify the threat of Conor Cooney. They were also endeavouring to isolate Liam Watson at the other end, and, initially, they had St. Thomas’ on the ropes.

They created goal chances for Benny McCarry, who blazed the ball wide, Shay Casey, denied by a timely block from Cathal Burke, and Watson, who took the wrong option in electing to pull rather than take possession when about ten yards out, but instead let their Galway opponents off the hook and ended up paying a heavy penalty for doing so. It typified their poor finishing on the day with an Eddie McCloskey point just on half time their only score from play.

It was unreasonable to expect that Cooney would have same impact as he had done in the drawn game, but up stepped Bernard Burke to pick up the slack as he make the replay nearly his own personal property. He picked off four critical points, one better than the other, and also had the pleasure of literally knocking the wind out of McCloskey’s sails with a hefty shoulder challenge close to half time.

St. Thomas’ had just edged 0-6 to 0-5 in front and their greater scoring power was highlighted by the neat point taking from the likes of David Burke, much more influential this time, James Regan, Bernard Burke, Kenneth Burke and substitute Eanna Burke. It was a disappointing position for Loughgiel given that they had no shortage of opportunities, but they simply didn’t possess the necessary cutting edge on the day. They were left to rue that wastefulness in the second half despite Watson tying up the teams soon after the resumption.

In a blistering spell which highlighted St. Thomas’ teamwork, greater skill and mobility, they rattled off eight unanswered points. Bernard Burke was at the heart of this dominance with a hat-trick of wonderful scores which would have broken the hearts of most opponents. Burke made hay when switched to the forty and with Richie Murray also benefitting from his move out the field, the Galway title holders began putting significant daylight between the teams.

With Sean Skehill again carrying out a wonderful policing job on Watson and Darragh and Sean Burke starring in the half back line, Loughgiel were now struggling to even create chances in the second-half when they were restricted to just two pointed frees. In contrast, St. Thomas’ were raising white flags at will, especially in the third quarter and though their scoring ratio dropped towards the end, the job was already done.

Considering they are such a young team and performing at this level for the first time, it reflects well on St. Thomas’ maturity that they didn’t allow the late change of venue from Parnell Park to Clones to affect their mindset. That switch might have been perceived as suiting Loughgiel more, but John Burke and Dinny Cahill had their troops in the right mood and the manner in which they pulled away in the second-half underlines the quality in the team. No wonder, they are priced at 4/7 to go the whole way now.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.