Éanna Burke’s wonder point lifts St Thomas’ back to All-Ireland summit as O’Loughlin Gaels rue ‘ridiculous’ missed goal

From the moment the ferocity of Owen Wall’s shot carried Fintan Burke and the ball, clutched in one of the St Thomas’ full-back’s hands, across the goal line 11 minutes into this All-Ireland club SHC final in Croke Park, it always felt like it would matter later on.

That it was won by a magnificent point from Éanna Burke, spinning over with a snapshot with barely a glance as he hugged the Hogan Stand sideline in a frantic finish, will however soften the blow for O’Loughlin Gaels. If they were to lose to any score, at least it was one of this quality.

And O’Loughlin Gaels can have few other complaints, having played most of the second half with a full complement after James Regan’s red card for what initially looked like he had made glancing contact with Jack Nolan’s face two minutes after the restart, reduced St Thomas’ to 14. It discommoded them, it seemed, much more than St Thomas’ when it shouldn’t have and really, with numerical disadvantage St Thomas’ were considerably better.

But the point was that Wall’s ‘goal,’ had it been picked up by the umpires, could have given the Kilkenny champions momentum and maybe shaped the game in a different way thereafter. And it will re-open the debate around Hawk-Eye’s scope. If the technology is there for points, is it not possible to provide for goals that cross the goal line too?

​In real time though it was difficult to detect, even if O’Loughlin Gaels players were imploring the officials to reflect. And with St Thomas’ just two points behind at the break, 0-10 to 0-8, it felt like they had absorbed some of O’Loughlin Gaels’ best shots.

The red card, just two minutes after the restart, only prodded St Thomas’ resolve even more as they sought to make up for so many disappointments in the club championship since their initial All-Ireland triumph in 2013.

They dug deep and were led brilliantly by David Burke, the 2017 All-Ireland winning Galway captain who has made a remarkable comeback since tearing a cruciate ligament last March. Burke scored three points but his industry and involvement in everything was eye-catching.

O’Loughlin Gaels still had a chance to equalise at the end when Mark Bergin, so often their saviour up front, stood over an 80-metre free but with the wind blowing down the field against him it was a tough ask and as it drifted wide, St Thomas’ knew they had survived.

Being two-time All-Ireland champions now was something they had chased hard in between and when they lost to Dunloy 13 months ago in an All-Ireland semi-final, they looked as far away from it as ever.

Their manager Kenneth Burke, a player in 2013 when his father John was manager, said he had taken the position with only this goal (All-Ireland title) in mind.

Eight of the 2013 team, including Éanna Burke who was a substitute in the final 11 years ago, were winning a second title.

“If we had won a second All-Ireland earlier, would we have won as many Galway titles? Maybe not. These things come around but it was absolutely a main target to get back here and the lads knew they were good enough.

“We were very disappointed then leaving Croke Park (after losing to Dunloy). Being realistic, a few days later we were wondering would we ever get the chance to get back here again. Honestly, we probably said no but after a few weeks, we dusted ourselves down and got back in the gym, kept going and saw how the Galway championship went and do what we do.”

Éanna Burke had earlier scored a similar snapshot on 55 minutes for a 0-16 to 0-14 lead but he was lucky to be on the field himself after pulling across Jordan Molloy’s body in 42nd minute. Already on a yellow from late in the first half, referee Seán Stack didn’t show a second card, a let off that the full-forward made the most of.

Still the full-forward showed admirable leadership in delivering the coup de grace with his manager, and brother, crediting his bravery in going for it.

“We’ve seen that plenty of times but maybe not in a match like that,” said Kenneth Burke. “He’s not afraid to shoot and he’d probably missed a couple of chances that he’d usually score. But that’s him. He’s brave and he’ll take the shot on. If you don’t take the shot you won’t get the score.”

The red card was a point of debate too and like the Wall ‘goal’ was cast in a different light on review. “I don’t think he connected with him really,” said Kenneth Burke, referring to Regan’s high challenge on Nolan. “It looked bad at the time but I thought it was harsh – I thought there were other tackles in the game that were similar. The referee only sees it once – he has to make the decision. But I don’t think he caught him at all. So we were very disappointed with the decision at the time. But that’s the way it goes.”

O’Loughlin Gaels just didn’t have enough up front and their dependency on defenders as a source of scores was evident in that each of the half-backs – David Fogarty, Paddy Deegan and Molloy – scored two points each while corner-back Mikey Butler added another. Seven from 17 tells its own story.

St Thomas’ had towering defensive performances from Cian Mahony and Fintan Burke while Cathal Burke also had a big second half. Goalkeeper Gerald Kelly converted a second-half free but also made a fine save from Luke Hogan in the 39th minute.

They led by two points four times in the second half, despite Regan’s dismissal, but O’Loughlin Gaels got back level three minutes into added time through Fogarty.

It was hard-hitting with quite the undercurrent throughout, eight yellow cards (five for O’Loughlin Gaels) in addition to the red. O’Loughlins can take issue too with the decision to play on when Seán Bolger was pushed over the endline barrier and into the netting by St Thomas’ John Headd. But they just couldn’t match the resolve of St Thomas’ and they just couldn’t summon the nerve that they showed to beat Ballyhale in the Kilkenny final, Na Fianna in the Leinster decider and Cushendall in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Their selector Nigel Skehan described to local radio station KCLR the failure to flag the goal for Wall as “ridiculous” but accepted the best team had won.

No one would dispute that with a winner worthy of any game.

SCORERS – St Thomas’: C Cooney 0-6 (4f); D Burke, E Burke 0-3 each; J Regan, V Manso 0-2 each; C Burke, G Kelly (f) 0-1 each. O’Loughlin Gaels: M Bergin 0-4 (2f); P Deegan, S Bolger, D Fogarty, J Molloy 0-2 each; M Butler, S Murphy (f), C Kelly, L Hogan, C Heary 0-1 each.

ST THOMAS’: G Kelly; C Mahony, F Burke, D Sherry; J Headd, S Cooney, C Burke; D Finnerty, D Burke; V Manso, C Cooney, D Burke; J Regan, E Burke, O Flannery. Subs: E Duggan for Sherry (inj 20), B Burke for Manso (50), D McGlynn for Flannery (55).

O’LOUGHLIN GAELS: S Murphy; T Forristal, H Lawlor, M Butler; D Fogarty, P Deegan, J Molloy; J Nolan, C Loy; E O’Shea, M Bergin, C Hearty; O Wall, L Hogan, S Bolger. Subs: C Kelly for O’Shea (47), J Ryan for Nolan (50), P Butler for Loy (58).

REF: S Stack (Dublin).

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