St Thomas 0-18 O’Loughlin Gaels 0-17
After a controversial but frenetic match in adverse conditions, Galway champions St Thomas were reduced to 14 men for most of the second half, but achieved a dramatic win over Or He fulfilled his long-simmering ambition to win the All-Ireland. Rocklin Gaels.
The game looked like it was going to go into extra time, but Kilkenny champion David Fogerty hit a huge shot to level both teams at 0-17. In the next phase of play, Eanna Burke scored a stunning first-time goal from a claustrophobic spot on the left.
There’s only one drama left. O’Loughlin captain Mark Bergin decided the match with a free shot from around 75 meters, but his shot went wide and referee Sean Stack signaled the end of the match.
Eleven years after winning their only All-Ireland, it meant a lot to the University of St Thomas to win their second Tommy Moore Trophy and join multiple other winners in Galway.
O’Loughlins looks devastated and will be unhappy that an important decision went against him. In the 11th minute, Eoin O’Shea’s shot was blocked by the excellent Cian Mahoney. The ball ran towards Owen Wall and the drive appeared to be stopped by full-back Fintan Burke, but television footage showed the ball had clearly crossed the line.
St Thomas were reduced to 14 men in the 32nd minute when James Regan was shown a red card for crossing Jack Nolan.
Match winner Eanna Burke, who had already been given a yellow, had every chance of going after Jordan Molloy when she ran loosely across him but escaped further reprimand.
The Kilkenny team got off to a stronger start and the defense maintained their high-scoring form to eventually score seven points, while the Galway team struggled to slow down their opponents on the line.
They were leading 0-10 to 0-8 at halftime, but things looked different in the second half. Veteran David Burke had a great game for the winner and other key players also stood up. Conor Cooney and Eanna Burke continued to put pressure on O’Loughlins despite being reduced in numbers.
They tied the score within 10 minutes of the match restarting and dominated the rest of the match. The defense was good, with Cian Mahoney playing well at cornerback.
St. Thomas: G Kelly (0-1f); C Mahoney, F Burke, D Shelley. J Head, S Cooney, C Burke (0-1); D Finnerty, David Burke (0-3); V Manso (0-2), C Cooney (0-6, 4f), Darragh Burke. J Regan (0-2), O Flannery, E Burke (0-3).
sub: E. Duggan for Sherry (20 minutes). B Bark for Mango (50 minutes)
O’Loughlin Gales: S Murphy (0-1, free) T Forristal, H Lawler, M Butler (0-1); D Fogarty (0-2), P Deegan (0-2), J Molloy (0-2). J. Nolan, C. Roy. E. O’Shea, M. Bergin (0-4, 2f), C. Healy (0-1). O Wall, L Hogan (0-1), S Bolger (0-2).
sub: Kelly (0-1) replaced O’Shea (47′), J. Ryan replaced Wall (50′) and P. Butler replaced Roy (58′).
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