St Thomas’ 1-17

Loughrea 0-20

John McIntyre at Pearse Stadium

ST Thomas’ proud record of having never being beaten in a Galway senior hurling final is still standing . . . but only just after Sunday’s pulsating showdown at Pearse Stadium.

For this was the closest the champions have come to tasting defeat on Galway club hurling’s biggest occasion, notwithstanding the fact that it was Loughrea who had to craft a superb equaliser from Tiernan Killeen in the dying moments to force a replay.

Make no mistake, St Thomas’ had to stretch every sinew to survive a ferocious challenge from a Loughrea team which carried the fight to the title holders from the off, and probably played most of the hurling on the day.

Tommy Kelly’s charges began in explosive fashion. Star forward Martin McManus assembled a hat-trick of terrific points in little more than two minutes, and they remained hugely competitive in a compelling encounter for the time of year.

Highly skillful, Loughrea’s largely young team built on the positive impression they had created in turning the tables on Clarinbridge in the county semi-final. They had St Thomas’ at full stretch at times, particularly in the opening quarter and looked primed for an unexpected triumph when forging into a four-point lead with barely eight minutes remaining.

No team had asked such serious questions of St Thomas’ in their six previous county finals appearance, and it is a tribute to their overall quality and big-day temperament that they are still standing after arguably the best Galway decider of the past decade.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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