2012 county hurling championships

[spuds]

32 county titles all right, but most of them were won long before the Munster Club Championship started.   Still true that they have underperformed in Munster.  Get the feeling that this could be their year to go all the way to Croke Park on St. Patrrick's Day.  They have a seriously strong panel of players, but have still to deliver on the big day.

Lar scored some goal in the first half, was a bullet of a shot. They went ahead and seemed to be well on top, but managed to let the Cork lads back in and give away some easy frees I thought.

Could have went either way until the goal, fair enough high scoring game for this time of the year. De La Salle are no mugs at this level and have the experience of being there before. If truth be told Munster clubs have been dung lately in the club championship

Hard to look beyond ballyhale. Oulart didn't impress me against Crokes. Which means they should win leinster relatively easily

Ballyhale favourites without doubt but if I got decent odds would back Oulart to win Leinster.

[Canalman]

Have a sneaking hunch that OtB will go a long way . (kiss of death I suppose). From what I have seen they are a well rounded team and imvho it is the calibre of the 12th to 18th best players in the panel that wins you the All Ireland club final and to a lesser extent the Provincial title. Inter county players will only bring you so far if you have the passengers on the team.

Thurles  S are desparate to win a Munster given their  inability to win one over the years. Wily campaigners in DLS await them . TS should do it with the players they have.

[Croí na hÉireann]

Where and when is the Oulart Ballyhale match on?

[Seamroga in exile]

Where and when is the Oulart Ballyhale match on?

25/11, Wexford Pk, 2pm

[GalwayBayBoy]

Galway county final on Sunday.

November 15, 2012 - 7:00am
Handful of familes backbone St. Thomas' bid to make Galway hurling history

CIARAN TIERNEY

NOT since the legendary Sarsfields team of the 1990s has a club as small as St Thomas' been top dogs in Galway hurling and the perception that they are a small 'band of brothers' is enhanced by the fact that team manager John Burke has six sons on the team who are aiming to deliver a first county senior title to the club on Sunday.

For the Cooneys and McGraths from New Inn, substitute the Burkes, Murrays, Skehills, Kellys and, indeed, Cooneys on the youthful St Thomas' side who are aiming to make club history at Pearse Stadium. They represent barely 200 houses in Kilchreest and Peterswell, and the team is backboned by a handful of families.

John Burke has managed the team for half a decade, but he knew there was potential there as far back as 2002 when he was selector on the team who beat Carnmore in the U-12 final. That group of players reached the last two U-21 finals and make up the majority of this year's senior side.

"We are aiming for this for a number of years. We saw the potential in these fellas even then. I remember I was a selector that day in 2002 with Mark Fahy and Kevin Cunningham. We said that this group of players would go places if they stuck together.

"They progressed up along after that. They went to U-14, won the U-16, won the minor and the U-21. They have stuck together as a group. Very few of them have left. A few have, between work and different things. But most have stuck to the hurling. They are all great friends."

Perhaps this county final has come a little early for such a young side. But, as he surveyed a training session under temporary floodlights at Castledaly last week, Burke made it clear that they were a very happy group, bonded as much by a love of the game as blood ties or the sense of togetherness that comes from neighbours living in a small rural area.

"It's probably the fact that we are an awful small parish," said Burke. "It's a very close-knit community, the hurling community here. That's basically what we do. We hurl. There's nothing else. They love their hurling. We stress that to every age group up along. You have to enjoy it. If it is a chore to come to the pitch for training, there is no point in coming then."

Burke hurled himself until he was well into his 40s. With so many of his own young lads joining the underage ranks, it was almost inevitable he would take up a coaching role. He has made life-long friends from rival clubs through a mutual love of hurling and could hardly imagine life without the game.

With six sons involved in the senior panel – David, Darragh, Cathal, Kenneth, Sean, and Eanna – it is very much a family affair, but he treats every member of the panel equally and selectors Jimmy Kelly (Kilchreest) and Justin Flannery (Peterswell) work hard with Burke to ensure they have a happy camp.

"The lads on the panel are all equal to me, every man that's out there. It's all about who is working hardest all the time. We have a great panel. We stress that the last couple of years, it's the young lads coming through who are probably making our team now. They are pushing it a little more for us, which is awful important. You won't win any game with 15 players," he said.

"We have a few other fellas there who are ready to go if we need them. On any given day, a lad could get hurt or injured. You have to be able to get the players in if we need them. I wouldn't be worried about five or six of the subs if we had to use them. And the bit of experience of the likes of Enda Tannian and Richie Murray is very important. You need to have a few wise heads with the bit of experience all the time."

Neighbours will go to war on Sunday as St Thomas bid to clinch their first ever Galway senior hurling championship against Loughrea at Pearse Stadium (2pm).

After accounting for the defending champions on their southern border, Gort, in a semi-final replay, St Thomas will be keen to go one step further against a battle hardened Loughrea.

Loughrea looked mighty impressive when they powered past a fancied Turloughmore in horrendous conditions at Athenry, with veteran Johnny Maher and the youthful Patrick Hoban catching the eye in their last-four victory.

Young hurler of the Year, Johnny Coen, featured at wing-back and had a quiet day against a relative laboured Turlough attack, but his talents are likely to be tested further on Sunday against St Thomas' most powerful line.

Conor Cooney has been their shining light thus far, but flanked by Bernard Burke and James Regan, the trio have made John Burke's youthful side look like a powerful, experienced outfit.

Another area that St Tomas will fancy gaining the upper hand is at midfield as former Galway U-21 captains Kenneth and David Burke are likely to be paired against Loughrea skipper Gavin Keary and Emmett Mahony.

Depending on team selection we could see six brothers start for St Thomas with minor Eanna Burke pushing hard for inclusion alongside his brothers Cathal, Sean, Darragh, Kenneth and David, but the ultimate decision will rest with their father — team manager John.

Loughrea's return of just one win in the five finals they have reached in the last nine is scant return for a club of their status. But they could well lose a sixth final in a decade if St Thomas finally live up to their promise.

In a novel pairing, this Sunday's county senior hurling final sees Loughrea take on newcomers St Thomas at Pearse Stadium (2pm).

While many neutrals, who may like to see a new name on the county cup, will be rooting for St Thomas, Loughrea are the more experienced, having been in five county finals since 2003.

They won their second title in 2006, beating Portumna by 1-13 to 0-15 - some 65 years after winning their first senior championship, and lost four finals in the past decade, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010.

Loughrea will be keen to change that recent losing record and will enter Sunday's game with all guns blazing against a side that has been installed as the bookies' favourites. However some pundits believe St Thomas' lack of big-game experience may count against them this weekend.

Loughrea's form has been good, and they were very efficient and powerful in their 1-12 to 0-07 victory over Turloughmore in their semi-final.

They threw the ball around confidently and always looked in control from the moment Kenneth Colleran hit a first half goal following good work from the consistently impressive Emmet Mahony.

Loughrea have enjoyed a good year thus-far and they have a nice balance of talented young hurlers like county minor Seán Sweeney and young hurler of the year Johnny Coen, alongside the vastly experienced men like the potent Johnny Maher, Gavin Keary, Johnny O' Loughlin, Vinny Maher and full-back Damien McClearn.

Several Loughrea players, Nigel Murray, Tom Regan, Gavin Keary, Johnny and Vinny Maher, Kenneth Colleran and team captain that year Damien McClearn, all won county medals six years ago. They will believe their efforts over the past few years merit another one.

St Thomas, who are favourites with the bookies for the Tom Callanan Cup, had a narrow one-point victory (1-16 to 1-15 ) over county champions Gort after a replay.

The Kilchreest /Peterswell club had fine displays from All-Star David Burke at midfield and up front Conor Cooney who shot 0-5, 4fs. James Regan, Ritchie Murray and Bernard Burke also caught the eye.

However it was a fabulous goal from county minor Shane Cooney, who was set up by fellow minor Enda Burke, that helped St Thomas to reach this weekend's decider.

[Seamroga in exile]

There's a load of boys heading down to the Galway final from Loughgiel, I might be there myself. 

[johnneycool]

There's a load of boys heading down to the Galway final from Loughgiel, I might be there myself. 

If St Thomas' can get off the drink and get their heads right then Loughgiel will have it all to do, they've some very fine hurlers on their team even in that turgid  battle on a bog of a pitch at Pierce stadium yesterday.

I'd always head that Galway club hurling was brutal, but my god, how did Johnny Maher stay on the park was something else, at one point he was dropping lads like flies, just as well his uncle was refereeing as that's the only reason I can come up with.

[Croí na hÉireann]

Unreal. I thought he was walking the line in the first half when he netted from the 21 and ran in after to shove his hurl into the keepers back as he was picking it out of the net but he eclipsed all with his antics in the last 10 minutes. Delighted to see St Thomas's win in the end, at least they wanted to play some hurling.

[GalwayBayBoy]

There's a load of boys heading down to the Galway final from Loughgiel, I might be there myself. 

If St Thomas' can get off the drink and get their heads right then Loughgiel will have it all to do

Yeah Thomas' might do alright if they keep their heads screwed on. However they are a very young side apart from one or two older heads and this is their very first county title so you don't know how they will react over the next few weeks and months. Loughgiel are already focused on retaining their All-Ireland while Thomas' will just be delighted to have won their first county title. Anything else is a bonus for them.

On a dry day they are very dangerous as they are young, have plenty of pace and they can all hurl. In fairness to them they also managed to tough it out on a filthy day yesterday which should have suited Loughrea.

[Croí na hÉireann]

Plenty of time between now and February to get the celebrating done and the heads right I would have thought.

[Milltown Row2]

Plenty of time between now and February to get the celebrating done and the heads right I would have thought.

Massive core work to be done between now and Feb. Loughgiel are going into their third campaign and will be tweaking their training styles leading up to the game, Obviously they will have improved and be a lot stronger. Will take St Thomas's about 20 minutes to get into the game, probably be too late for them to make a challenge.

All early stuff and no harm debating it

[GalwayBayBoy]

New power in Galway

Youthful St. Thomas' have scope for long reign after winning first ever senior hurling title

CIARAN TIERNEY

THEY were singing in the rain long into the night around the South Galway villages of Kilchreest, Castledaly, and Peterswell after the young guns of St Thomas' delivered a first county senior title to the amalgamated rural club with a fully deserved victory over a battle-hardened Loughrea side at Pearse Stadium on Sunday.

The final scoreline of 3-11 to 2-11 might suggest that it was a thriller in the driving rain, but the youthful men in red were the superior side despite a few late scares. They seemed to have the issue wrapped up before a spirited Loughrea registered 1-3 without reply, to cause some last minute jitters, in the closing ten minutes of the game.

A crowd of over 6,500 turned up to watch Galway hurling's showpiece occasion, despite the atrocious conditions, and it was a credit to both sides that they served up such a rousing contest in the circumstances.

Loughrea fielded with seven players who were featuring in their sixth county final and this latest defeat is bound to cause considerable soul-searching in the Town camp, given that they have only managed one title success (2006) since reaching their first modern-day decider in 2003.

But St Thomas' tore into them from the outset. They enjoyed a dream start when 30-year old full-forward Richie Murray, the former Galway senior star, rounded rival full-back Damien McClearn to unleash a superb shot to the net after just 90 seconds of play.

St Thomas' featured no less than nine of the side who beat Loughrea in last year's county U-21 final and the two subs they brought on, Eanna Burke and Shane Cooney, are both teenagers. They look to have the makings of a serious force in Galway hurling for some years.

County senior and current All-Star David Burke was simply immense on Sunday, covering back to help his defence when required while also driving forward from his midfield berth, where he partnered his brother Kenneth, to set up attacks for his fired-up young side.

Two of his colleagues in attack, James Regan and Conor Cooney, also made up for the disappointment of losing the replayed All-Ireland final to Kilkenny in September while it was a particularly joyous occasion for Richie Murray, who scored three goals, after so many years of disappointment with the county.

They still found it hard to shake off a gritty Loughrea side who were back on level terms by the 20th minute, thanks to points from Johnny Maher and Neil Keary, plus a superbly struck Maher free which hit the back of the net on 14 minutes.

[johnneycool]

New power in Galway

Youthful St. Thomas' have scope for long reign after winning first ever senior hurling title

CIARAN TIERNEY

THEY were singing in the rain long into the night around the South Galway villages of Kilchreest, Castledaly, and Peterswell after the young guns of St Thomas' delivered a first county senior title to the amalgamated rural club with a fully deserved victory over a battle-hardened Loughrea side at Pearse Stadium on Sunday.

The final scoreline of 3-11 to 2-11 might suggest that it was a thriller in the driving rain, but the youthful men in red were the superior side despite a few late scares. They seemed to have the issue wrapped up before a spirited Loughrea registered 1-3 without reply, to cause some last minute jitters, in the closing ten minutes of the game.

A crowd of over 6,500 turned up to watch Galway hurling's showpiece occasion, despite the atrocious conditions, and it was a credit to both sides that they served up such a rousing contest in the circumstances.

Loughrea fielded with seven players who were featuring in their sixth county final and this latest defeat is bound to cause considerable soul-searching in the Town camp, given that they have only managed one title success (2006) since reaching their first modern-day decider in 2003.

But St Thomas' tore into them from the outset. They enjoyed a dream start when 30-year old full-forward Richie Murray, the former Galway senior star, rounded rival full-back Damien McClearn to unleash a superb shot to the net after just 90 seconds of play.

St Thomas' featured no less than nine of the side who beat Loughrea in last year's county U-21 final and the two subs they brought on, Eanna Burke and Shane Cooney, are both teenagers. They look to have the makings of a serious force in Galway hurling for some years.

County senior and current All-Star David Burke was simply immense on Sunday, covering back to help his defence when required while also driving forward from his midfield berth, where he partnered his brother Kenneth, to set up attacks for his fired-up young side.

Two of his colleagues in attack, James Regan and Conor Cooney, also made up for the disappointment of losing the replayed All-Ireland final to Kilkenny in September while it was a particularly joyous occasion for Richie Murray, who scored three goals, after so many years of disappointment with the county.

They still found it hard to shake off a gritty Loughrea side who were back on level terms by the 20th minute, thanks to points from Johnny Maher and Neil Keary, plus a superbly struck Maher free which hit the back of the net on 14 minutes.

Read both the examiner and Independent online coverage of the game and none to Maher's antics are mentioned, is that sort of thing common in Galway club hurling or is it exceptional even by Galway standards?

[GalwayBayBoy]

New power in Galway

Youthful St. Thomas' have scope for long reign after winning first ever senior hurling title

CIARAN TIERNEY

THEY were singing in the rain long into the night around the South Galway villages of Kilchreest, Castledaly, and Peterswell after the young guns of St Thomas' delivered a first county senior title to the amalgamated rural club with a fully deserved victory over a battle-hardened Loughrea side at Pearse Stadium on Sunday.

The final scoreline of 3-11 to 2-11 might suggest that it was a thriller in the driving rain, but the youthful men in red were the superior side despite a few late scares. They seemed to have the issue wrapped up before a spirited Loughrea registered 1-3 without reply, to cause some last minute jitters, in the closing ten minutes of the game.

A crowd of over 6,500 turned up to watch Galway hurling's showpiece occasion, despite the atrocious conditions, and it was a credit to both sides that they served up such a rousing contest in the circumstances.

Loughrea fielded with seven players who were featuring in their sixth county final and this latest defeat is bound to cause considerable soul-searching in the Town camp, given that they have only managed one title success (2006) since reaching their first modern-day decider in 2003.

But St Thomas' tore into them from the outset. They enjoyed a dream start when 30-year old full-forward Richie Murray, the former Galway senior star, rounded rival full-back Damien McClearn to unleash a superb shot to the net after just 90 seconds of play.

St Thomas' featured no less than nine of the side who beat Loughrea in last year's county U-21 final and the two subs they brought on, Eanna Burke and Shane Cooney, are both teenagers. They look to have the makings of a serious force in Galway hurling for some years.

County senior and current All-Star David Burke was simply immense on Sunday, covering back to help his defence when required while also driving forward from his midfield berth, where he partnered his brother Kenneth, to set up attacks for his fired-up young side.

Two of his colleagues in attack, James Regan and Conor Cooney, also made up for the disappointment of losing the replayed All-Ireland final to Kilkenny in September while it was a particularly joyous occasion for Richie Murray, who scored three goals, after so many years of disappointment with the county.

They still found it hard to shake off a gritty Loughrea side who were back on level terms by the 20th minute, thanks to points from Johnny Maher and Neil Keary, plus a superbly struck Maher free which hit the back of the net on 14 minutes.

Read both the examiner and Independent online coverage of the game and none to Maher's antics are mentioned, is that sort of thing common in Galway club hurling or is it exceptional even by Galway standards?

Think everyone feels he should have been sent off (twice if that was possible) but the ref is probably getting more criticism than Maher himself. The fact that it was only one fella losing the rag rather than an all out brawl means it's not getting as much publicity.

[Onlooker]

Johnny Maher is now the best known club hurler in the country.   Maybe he will take Joe's place on the Galway team.