St Thomas’ now ranking among Galway hurling’s top ever teams

Inside Track with John McIntyre

IN a way, how St Thomas’ salvaged their county title ambitions at Pearse Stadium last Sunday after looking in big trouble at half-time represents the single biggest achievement of this talented group of players over the past eight years.

Of course, a successful defence of the Tom Callanan Cup for the first-time dominated the post-match narrative, but St Thomas’ prospects of breaking new ground were anything but favourable as the teams headed into dressing rooms at the interval in Salthill before a perished crowd of 6,740.

Liam Mellows, clearly motivated by last year’s below-par final effort, had called most of the shots over the opening 30 minutes and were also giving a masterclass in efficiency, only registering their first wide in injury time. Twice, the city men led by five point-margins and they would have been more than content with an interval advantage of 0-11 to 0-7.

St Thomas’ had been knocked off their stride by the opposition’s physicality and commitment, while their normal composure was absent as well, a reality reflected in seven opening-half wides. Significantly, however, they were displaying the greater goal threat – the influential Eanna Burke had rattled the crossbar in the 21st minutes, while Mellows also had a let off when David Burke bore down on their posts only for his effort under pressure to screw off-target.

Yet, the champions were in some distress heading out for the second-half. This was a real test of their overall hunger and ability to engineer a way out of a tight corner. As it transpired, the closing 30 minutes bore little resemblance to the flow of the opening-half action. St Thomas’ upped the ante all over the field and were soon dominant.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app

The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.