Loughrea 1-15

St Thomas’ 1-14

RARELY has a final scoreline been such a distortion of what we have just seen. For the wonder is how only a point separated the protagonists on a wretched night in Salthill on Saturday.

The Tom Callanan Cup rests where it belongs for the second year running, but the Loughrea hurlers had to endure an avoidable hairy finale after almost criminal wastage left them vulnerable when St Thomas’ innate survival instincts belatedly kicked in.

On a horrible evening of wind and heavy rain when even ducks would have been diving for cover, the best team ever produced by Loughrea went into the history books with a first successful defence of their county senior title at Pearse Stadium.

Despite the awful weather, this was a decent contest between the champions and a St Thomas’ outfit desperately trying to roll back the years and, in the process, preserving their remarkable triumphant record in Galway club hurling’s showpiece event.

Eight titles from their previous eight final appearances underlines St Thomas’ big-day mental fortitude and quality, and they would loved to have squeezed one more championship out of their aging limbs, especially against the team which succeeded them as title holders after their record equalling six-in-a-row.

But there was no fairytale ending for St Thomas’ in Salthill. Frankly, they were second best for long periods against a slicker and more cohesive Loughrea team who were largely responsible themselves for leaving their opponents still hanging on towards the finish.

Fifteen wides as against five, a series of spurned goal chances, together with typical scrambling opposition defence, ensured Loughrea never put the daylight between the teams that their overall superiority deserved.

Yet, the result was everything and Loughrea are now firmly established as Galway’s top hurling force, with Anthony Burns and Darren Shaughnessy in their full forward line causing havoc and vying for the man of the match accolade.

In an understandably relatively low scoring final, they accounted for 1-7 between them, while the third member of Loughrea’s inside attacking line, Vince Morgan, contributed two points but also came oh so close to twice finding the net in the second half.

In the end, Loughrea got away without exhibiting the ruthless streak that they will need for the upcoming All-Ireland series. Tommy Kelly’s charges were unlucky losers to Na Fianna of Dublin in last year’s semi-final but that experience should stand to them this time round.

Furthermore, their believe and confidence levels will probably be at an all-time high after taking down the team which has dominated Galway club hurling for nearly a dozen years. Loughrea’s ability to find a player in space and their rapid transfer of possession had St Thomas’ chasing shadows at times.

Quarter-final hero Tiernan Killeen was the prime example of moving the ball at pace and he made another strong contribution on Saturday, while Kieran Hanrahan – is there a tidier corner back in Galway – was outstanding from start to finish.

If Shaughnessy, Burns, Hanrahan and Killeen led the individual roll of honour, they had serious back up in centre back Shane Morgan, who was a towering presence in the number six jersey, Brian Keary, Joe Mooney and Vince Morgan.

Overall, Loughrea put in a sterling defensive shift, restricting St Thomas’ to just five points from play with long serving pair Paul Hoban and Johnny Coen using their experience to good  effect in front of under-rated keeper Gearoid Loughnane. At midfield, the tireless Cullen Killeen and team captain Ian Hanrahan edged that battle.

In contrast, most of the St Thomas’ players were on the periphery of the action. Cian Mahony never got to grips with Burns, while Fintan Burke struggled to tie down the resurgent Shaughnessy in a defence where only Shane Cooney was not always under pressure.

Pictured: Loughrea defender Kieran Hanrahan getting the better of St Thomas’ Evan Brady during the Galway Senior Hurling Final at Pearse Stadium on Saturday evening. Photo: David Cunniffe.