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St. ThomasÕ captain remembers an old friend on historic occasion for the club

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Date Published: 22-Nov-2012

POIGNANT images flashed like strobe lighting across the canvas of Pearse Stadium. Tears of joy bled into the November rain and magnificent words like ‘historic’ and ‘momentous’ were like gregarious starlings flying in and out through the rafters of the stand as they toyed playfully with the cold winter air. And from above, a smile rippled across the heavens.

It would have been easy to overlook other important matters on a day like this but St. Thomas’ victorious captain Robert Murray was determined not to forget an old friend. Barry Burke (25), the accomplished midfielder who died tragically in a work accident in May 2009, may not have had the opportunity to walk up those steps in the stadium, but his presence was felt – embraced – nonetheless.

The lump in Murray’s throat caught, as it did among the others when Barry’s name was mentioned. For some, it was too difficult to encapsulate his loss in a single sentence but Murray, as captain, had a duty. A duty to honour Barry’s memory.

“Barry was a good friend of ours, a good friend of this team,” he said, his voice momentarily quivering. “He would have been part of that team. It is just days like this; memories of him come flooding back. We are proud that we could mention him and use him as a positive [force] and we know he helped us out there. He was vital. He was such a good character. He was a brilliant man.”

As an evening mist descended across the emptying ground, Murray, who certainly covered all the bases in his speech from the podium, composed himself. Barry was – and forever will be – one of their own. Just to put the loss into context, Murray alluded to the close-knit nature of the panel of players and, indeed, everyone in the club.

For his part, Murray had two brothers in the starting fifteen – hat-trick hero Richard and corner forward Gerald – and, he noted, that was indicative of the genetic make up of the squad. “It is a brothers’ effort – Burkes, Skehills, Cooneys, Murrays and Kellys – and I think there is one Regan man (James) there as well,” he quipped. “We are a small club and it is a family thing.”

Just to further underline this point, he admitted he could not help but burst with pride when Richard scored the first of those three vital goals in the opening minutes. “That was a proud moment just as it was a proud moment to have Richie up beside me when I was presented the Cup. He played fantastic but it is a team effort and you had all those other players making the vital blocks and hooks and everything else. That is just the effort everybody puts in.”

This was no more reflected than in the exertions of the players over 60 memorable minutes. One unsung hero he paid particular tribute to was St. Thomas’ goalkeeper Patrick Skehill, who pulled off a last-ditch double save to keep their lead intact at the finish.

“Loughrea had their chance to finish the game with a goal and I was never so delighted to see Paddy save that ball [from a Johnny Maher free]. I knew if he did, time was up, and we would be getting the Cup. That was when it kind of hit me . . . that I had to have some words ready for the speech. The fear of that!” he laughed.

Indeed, finding apt descriptions to express the emotions and feelings of the occasion were just lost on many of the players and management. “It is unreal. Words can’t describe it,” grinned a beaming James Regan.

“You know. You would hear lads – often when you came here as a young lad yourself – saying that they couldn’t find the words to describe it and you would think they were raving. Now, I know. Growing up with them lads, really, you are after winning with your best friends. It is unreal.”

A common theme adopted by the majority of players was that a good start was vital to their title hopes. It was a view supported by Regan. “We knew it was going to be dog eat dog. Loughrea are a serious team; they have been there for years. So, the good start was vital.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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