Inside Track with John McIntyre

Heading off to Pearse Stadum last Saturday evening as the clouds began to gather ominously, the suspicion was that the weather would take its toll on the senior hurling championship semi-final double bill, both in terms of entertainment and atmosphere.

And that’s how it turned out. For the penultimate stage of the championship felt flat as an occasion and the matches themselves didn’t really live up to expectations, not that it will matter a whit to the two teams who are still standing in the race for the Tom Callanan Cup.

The opening semi-final was less affected by the weather, but the game between Craughwell and St Thomas’ disappointingly fizzled out, a surprising scenario given that Ian Daniels’ charges had shot four quick-fire points at the start of the second-half to draw level.

We thought St Thomas’ were in trouble, especially as they were now facing the elements, but the former six-in-a-row champions responded to the challenge impressively. The excellent Shane Cooney set up David Burke for a trademark point to stop the rot and from there to the finish, Craughwell were outscored by 3-7 to six points.

All evening, St Thomas’ had a goal threat which their opponents hadn’t. Team captain Eanna Burke rifled home a terrific effort in the 28th minute to leave them leading 1-10 to 0-9 at the break and when Craughwell drew level with that blitz of points from the excellent Tom Monaghan (two), Tiernan Leen, and Ciarán Leen, they just shrugged it off and quickly reasserted their superiority.

St Thomas’ are so streetwise and experienced that it takes a lot to ruffle them. Their teamwork remains top-class and when you see long-serving players like Darragh Burke still prepared to work their socks off, the twice-crowned All-Ireland champions remain formidable adversaries.

Two goals from the in-form Victor Manso killed the game off before Darragh Burke raised their fourth green flag in the 56th minute. Conor Cooney, David Burke and Eanna Burke were also to the fore, while goalkeeper Gerald Kelly oozes confidence these days. And what about those formidable competitors in the full-back line, Fintan Burke and Cian Mahony.

For Craughwell, who possibly even surprised themselves by getting this far, their big problem was the exclusive reliance on the Leen cousins and Monaghan for scores. True, the injury to centre-back Alan Callanan disrupted them, but the closing 20 minutes underlined their limitations at this level.

Most of the pre-double bill focus was on the clash of Loughrea and Turloughmore, a team which had been giving off all the right signals since their first-round implosion to Clarinbridge. Darren Shaughnessy, Brian Holland, and their backroom again spared no effort this year and it appeared the team was in a good place.

Pictured: Joe Mooney of Loughrea tries to break through the tackles of Turloughmore’s Sean O’Hanlon and Tom Quirke during Saturday’s Senior Hurling semi-final at Pearse Stadium. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.