David Burke was over-joyed as it sank in that St Thomas’ had ended their ‘ten years of hurt.’
After one of the scores of a life-time from Eanna Burke, St Thomas’ defeated O’Loughlin Gaels by 0-18 to 0-17 to win the All-Ireland senior club hurling final.
It was a phenomenal way for St Thomas’ to win their second ever Tommy Moore Cup, coming as it does ten years after their first back in 2013. In the mean-time, the Galway parish have endured their fair share of heartache, having lost four semi-finals and one final in the intervening years.
But they’ve kept on coming back, and they got their reward in Croke Park on Sunday afternoon, when they showed great resilience, having been reduced to fourteen men with the dismissal of James Regan, to defeat O’Loughlin Gaels with a powerful second half performance.
Eanna Burke was the hero of the hour, having finished the game with a score from the Hogan Stand Gods, but his big brother David played just as central a role in their victory.
Having torn his cruciate ligament back in April, it took a momentous effort for the former All-Ireland winning captain to make it to this stage but he looked as fit and as sharp as ever, picking off three points from play in a brilliant performance.
Burke had made his return off the bench earlier in the season, in the Galway senior hurling final, having taken just six months to recover from the cruciate blow.
Afterwards, having been named as the man-of-the-match, Burke hailed his team-mates and the people of his parish.
“What it means to the fans, you can hear them, it’s unbelievable. We dogged it out, we did what we do best.
“We hurled okay and O’Loughlins were probably the better for it in the first half.
“But when James got the red, we realised it was now or never and every lad upped their game another ten percent.”
Scór Lán-Ama@oloughlingaels 0-17@StThomassHC 0-18
'We do what we do best, we dogged it out.'
Comhghairdeas le David Burke, Laoch na hImeartha.👏 @GAA_BEO #GAABEO pic.twitter.com/lDQ0NxupJ3
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) January 21, 2024
“I was roaring at him (Eanna) to put it into the square,” continued Burke.
“Myself and one of the boys were in there but I couldn’t believe he put it over the bar. It was one of the best points I’ve ever seen in Croke Park.”
St Thomas’ did have their own slice of luck, with Fintan Burke appearing to have carried an Owen Wall shot over the line in the first half, but St Thomas’ will hardly mind.
“It’s unbelievable,” added Burke.
“If you asked me even two months ago, coming into the Ballygunner game…to get back here with the lads on this day, what it means to them.
“Ten years of hurt since we won the last time. You can see the emotion there, it’s bottled up over the last couple of years, it’s unbelievable.
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