But victory, courtesy of Eanna Burke’s stunning goal, which spun over with just a glance in a frantic finish hugging the sideline of the Hogan Stand, will soften the blow for O’Loughlin Gaels. . Even if we lost by any score, at least it was a score of this quality.
And there is little else to complain about for O’Loughlin Gaels. St. Thomas played at full strength for most of the second half after being deducted a point for James Regan’s red card for appearing to make contact with Jack Nolan’s face two minutes after the restart. It seemed to upset them much more, even though St. Thomas shouldn’t have, and in fact, despite the numerical disadvantage, St. Thomas was considerably better.
But the point was that if Wall’s ‘goal’ had been picked up by the referee, it could have given momentum to the Kilkenny champions and shaped the rest of the match differently. And the debate over Hawkeye’s scope will begin again. If you have the skills to score points, can’t you also provide goals that cross the goal line?
Even if O’Loughlin Gaels’ players were demanding remorse from those involved, it was difficult to detect in real time. And St Thomas, trailing by just two points at the break at 0-10 to 0-8, felt like they absorbed some of O’Loughlin Gaels’ best shots.
The red card just two minutes after the restart further fueled St Thomas’ determination as they looked to make up for many disappointments in the Club Championship since winning the 2013 All-Ireland.
They dug deep and were guided admirably by 2017 All-Ireland winning Galway captain David Burke, who has made a remarkable comeback since tearing his cruciate ligament last March. Burke scored three points, but his involvement in the industry and everything was eye-catching.
O’Loughlin Gaels still had a chance to equalize at the end when Mark Bergin, often their savior up front, stood free over 80 meters, but the wind blowing down the field towards him. It was a difficult request because the current was drifting. St. Thomas knew they had survived.
Becoming two-time All-Ireland champions is something they have been chasing hard for all that time, and when they lost to Dunloy in the All-Ireland semi-final 13 months ago, they seemed further away from that title than ever before. It looked like.
Manager Kenneth Burke, who was a player in 2013 when his father John was manager, said he took over with only this goal in mind – an All-Ireland title.
Eight members of the 2013 team won their second title, including Eanna Burke, who came on as a substitute in the final 11 years ago.
“If we had won a second All-Ireland earlier, would we have won as many titles with Galway? Maybe not. That was definitely the main goal and the players knew they were good enough.
“We were very disappointed when we left Croke Park (losing to Dunloy). Realistically, after a few days we were wondering if we would ever get a chance to come back here again. We probably would have said no, but a few weeks later we dusted ourselves off, got back in the gym, continued to see how the Galway Championship went and did what we had to do. did.”
Earlier, Eanna Burke took a similar snap in the 55th minute to lead 0-16 to 0-14, but she was able to put herself on the field by cutting across the body of Jordan Molloy in the 42nd minute. was lucky. Already given a yellow towards the end of the first half, referee Sean Stack made the most of the let-off by not showing a second card.
Still, the full-forward showed great leadership as he and his manager and brother secured a stunning victory, and he praised the bravery that went into it.
“We’ve seen it many times and probably never in a game like that,” Kenneth Burke said. “He’s not afraid to shoot and probably would have missed some chances to score under normal circumstances. But that’s who he is. He’s brave and he’s going to try. If you don’t, you won’t get points.”
Red cards were also a point of discussion and, like the wall, the ‘goal’ was also cast in a different light during the review. “I don’t think he really had a heart to heart,” Kenneth Burke said, referring to Regan’s tough challenge to Nolan. “It looked bad at the time, but I thought it was tough. I thought there were other similar tackles during the game. The referee only sees it once and has to make a decision. But I don’t think he was caught at all. So we were very disappointed in the decision at the time. But it is what it is.”
O’Loughlin Gaels didn’t have enough players up front and were reliant on their defenders to score, with corner-back Mikey scoring two points each from half-backs David Fogarty, Paddy Deegan and Molloy. It was clear from this. Butler added: 7 of 17 tells its own story.
St. Thomas had great defensive performances from Cian Mahoney and Fintan Burke, and Cathal Burke also had a great performance in the second half. Goalkeeper Gerard Kelly scored from a free in the second half, but Luke Hogan also made a fine save in the 39th minute.
Despite Regan’s sending off, they led by two points four times in the second half, but O’Loughlin Gaels equalized with a goal from Fogarty three minutes into stoppage time.
There was a strong undercurrent and hard hitting throughout, with eight yellow cards (five for O’Loughlin Gaels) in addition to the red card. O’Loughlins may also challenge the decision to continue playing when Sean Bolger was forced into the net over the end-line barrier by St Thomas’ John Head. However, they could not match St Thomas’ determination and mustered the nerve they showed in defeating Ballyhale in the Kilkenny final, Na Fianna in the Leinster decider and Cushendall in the All-Ireland semi-final. could not.
Selector Nigel Skehan told local radio station KCLR it was “ridiculous” not to mark Wall’s goal, but admitted the best team had won.
No one would argue that the winner of any match is deserving.
Scorers – St. Thomas: C Cooney 0-6 (4f); D Burke, E Burke 0-3 each. J. Regan and V. Manso each have 0 wins and 2 losses. C. Burke, G. Kelly (f) each 0 wins and 1 loss. O’Loughlin Gaels: M Bergin 0-4 (2f); P Deegan, S Bolger, D Fogarty, J Molloy 0 wins and 2 losses each. M Butler, S Murphy (f), C Kelly, L Hogan, C Healy 0-1 each.
St Thomas: G Kelly; C Mahoney, F Burke, D Shelley. J Head, S Cooney, C Burke. D. Finnerty, D. Burke. V Manso, C Cooney, D Burke. J. Regan, E. Burke, O. Flannery. Subs: E Duggan of Shelley (injection 20), B Burke of Manso (50), D McGlynn of Flannery (55).
O’Loughlin Gaels: S. Murphy. T Forristal, H Lawler, M Butler. D. Fogarty, P. Deegan, J. Molloy. J. Nolan, C. Roy. E. O’Shea, M. Bergin, C. Harty. O Wall, L Hogan, S Bolger. Subs: O’Shea’s C. Kelly (47), Nolan’s J. Ryan (50), Roy’s P. Butler (58).
See: S Stack (Dublin).