THE CROWD IN Pearse Stadium were zeroing in on the Galway corner forward. He was putting on a clinic against the defending league and All-Ireland champions.
After making late substitute appearances against Tipperary and Kilkenny, a Saturday night in February was when Anthony Burns announced himself to the stage with a cool 2-3 in a commanding win over Clare. Another goal against Wexford last Saturday brings his current tally to 3-4 ahead of a crunch tie against Limerick later this evening.
Burns’s two goals against Clare arrived within two minutes of each other in the first half. His first goal, in the 23rd minute, was an act of individual genius where he flicked the ball behind his marker Ian McNamara before spinning around and exploiting the space with his speed to drill his shot to the net.
The Galway hurling community were already aware of Burns after watching him shine for Loughrea in last year’s county championship. He has no underage credentials with Galway at minor level, but he’s playing like a hurler with plenty of pedigree.
“Anthony Burns is about 25 years of age, has no experience with Galway and he literally took to it like a duck to water,” says former Galway star Johnny Coenabout his impressive Loughrea clubmate.
“I was at the Clare game and he flashed over a point straight away when he could have passed it to Conor Whelan for a goal chance. He was just so direct and was ready for the next puckout. He took the corner back for a run two or three times before he eventually stuck it in the net.
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“Anytime the ball went into his corner, it created a buzz in the stand wondering what he was going to do. He was explosive, he was energetic, he brought a bit of a buzz to Pearse Stadium that night and he continued that form into the Wexford game.
“The goal he got [against Wexford] wasn’t particularly flashy but they all still count.”
Burns’s fine scoring form is a continuation of what he produced for Loughrea in 2024. He was instrumental in their run to a first Galway senior county title since 2006 and a third-ever in their history. He scored a total of 4-17 in the championship, including a brilliant 1-3 in the county final against Cappataggle.
Anthony Burns in action against Cappataggle in last year's county final. Evan Logan / INPHO
Evan Logan / INPHO / INPHO
Eventual All-Ireland champions Na Fianna ended Loughrea’s campaign at the semi-final stage, where Burns grabbed two points from play.
Burns may not have graduated to the Galway senior ranks on the back of a successful underage career, but Coen explains that there are no obvious reasons for a delay in Burns’s breakthrough beyond the fact that he is a simply a late developer.
“This guy seems to have worked exceptionally hard over the last two years, put a good of effort into his own ability, his shooting, his conditioning and getting himself in peak performance.
“He was one of our go-to guys up front all year. There was one goal in particular against Castlegar [county quarter-final] that he got in the dying moments of the match. He just seemed to come up with vital scores at vital times. We were cognisant of the fact that if we could give him a chance, he would deliver.”
Burns’s arrival coincides with Galway’s revival in the league. After a 12-point thumping at the hands of Tipperary, Micheál Donoghue’s side have registered three wins on the bounce to put them in league final contention. As Donoghue previously indicated, he has used the league to explore the depth of his squad.
Burns is one of 37 players to earn match minutes so far, making his debut alongside fellow newcomers Seán Murphy, Michael Garvey, Oisín Lohan, Rory Burke, Cillian Whelan, Shane Morgan, John Fleming and Cillian Trayers.
Nothing is mathematically certain yet for Galway in the league. Back-to-back losses in the final two rounds could potentially put them in relegation danger if other results don’t fall in their favour.
And Limerick will be targeting a restorative win after their loss to Clare last weekend to apply added pressure. Galway have a reasonably healthy league record against John Kiely’s side. They’ve won two of their last four meetings, while last year’s clash in Pearse Stadium resulted in a 0-17 0-17 draw.
However, Limerick have won the last two championship battles — back-to-back All-Ireland semi-finals in 2022 and 2023, the second of which was a comprehensive nine-point victory.
Against Wexford, they saw a seven-point lead get trimmed down to two in the closing stages. Goalkeeper Mark Fanning also had a late chance to snatch the win for Wexford with a 21-yard free but Galway packed up the goalmouth to secure the result.
For Coen though, coming back home with a result is the most important thing for Galway.
Anthony Burns battles for possession with Wexford's Damien Reck. Lorraine O’Sullivan / INPHO
Lorraine O’Sullivan / INPHO / INPHO
“To go to Wexford Park, even logistically from Galway, is a long old day. They were damn happy to come out of there with the win.”
Amidst the new faces that have featured so far for Galway, there are still a few old familiars nearing a return. Daithí Burke picked up a hamstring injury against Clare while Cathal Mannion has yet to make an appearance this season.
Speaking after the Wexford game, Donoghue hinted that both could feature before the end of the competition. All-Ireland-winning captain David Burke made his 2025 bow against Wexford, scoring two points from play to bring added experience to their selection.
“Does Daithí Burke need to be playing those two games? I don’t think so, particularly if he’s on a dodgy hamstring,” says Coen.
“Rumours would say Cathal Mannion is coming back into fitness and match practice, I would be saying getting 20 minutes into him in either of those games would stand to him going forward.
“It’s very hard to go from zero up to 70 minutes for championship hurling.”
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Looking beyond the league, reaching a Leinster final will be the next target on Donoghue’s radar, according to Coen. Galway have not won a provincial title since 2018, have lost three finals since then, and failed to qualify out of the round-robin series last year.
Incidentally, Donoghue was the architect of their demise as manager of the Dublin side who booted them out of the championship.
Now he’s back for a second act as Galway manager, and his plan is starting to take shape.
“Often,” says Coen, “he [Donoghue] can say that he’s on a three-year or four-year plan and for the public to be patient. But when a new manager comes in, whether it’s the Premier League or inter-county hurling, they’re going to get a bounce straight away.
“There is still a very good bunch of players there, a lot of hurt from last year having not qualified [out of Leinster] and a serious appetite to do better.
“They would have felt that they let themselves down a little bit in their own performances. It’s definitely a target to go straight into the Leinster final when they haven’t won it since 2018. The players will want to go straight through the front door and into an All-Ireland semi-final.”
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The Loughrea star with no major county experience soaring in Galway league revival
THE CROWD IN Pearse Stadium were zeroing in on the Galway corner forward. He was putting on a clinic against the defending league and All-Ireland champions.
After making late substitute appearances against Tipperary and Kilkenny, a Saturday night in February was when Anthony Burns announced himself to the stage with a cool 2-3 in a commanding win over Clare. Another goal against Wexford last Saturday brings his current tally to 3-4 ahead of a crunch tie against Limerick later this evening.
Burns’s two goals against Clare arrived within two minutes of each other in the first half. His first goal, in the 23rd minute, was an act of individual genius where he flicked the ball behind his marker Ian McNamara before spinning around and exploiting the space with his speed to drill his shot to the net.
He lifted a second green flag after some good ground work from Conor Whelan who popped the ball off to Burns for the final flourish.
The Galway hurling community were already aware of Burns after watching him shine for Loughrea in last year’s county championship. He has no underage credentials with Galway at minor level, but he’s playing like a hurler with plenty of pedigree.
“Anthony Burns is about 25 years of age, has no experience with Galway and he literally took to it like a duck to water,” says former Galway star Johnny Coen about his impressive Loughrea clubmate.
“I was at the Clare game and he flashed over a point straight away when he could have passed it to Conor Whelan for a goal chance. He was just so direct and was ready for the next puckout. He took the corner back for a run two or three times before he eventually stuck it in the net.
“Anytime the ball went into his corner, it created a buzz in the stand wondering what he was going to do. He was explosive, he was energetic, he brought a bit of a buzz to Pearse Stadium that night and he continued that form into the Wexford game.
“The goal he got [against Wexford] wasn’t particularly flashy but they all still count.”
Burns’s fine scoring form is a continuation of what he produced for Loughrea in 2024. He was instrumental in their run to a first Galway senior county title since 2006 and a third-ever in their history. He scored a total of 4-17 in the championship, including a brilliant 1-3 in the county final against Cappataggle.
Eventual All-Ireland champions Na Fianna ended Loughrea’s campaign at the semi-final stage, where Burns grabbed two points from play.
Burns may not have graduated to the Galway senior ranks on the back of a successful underage career, but Coen explains that there are no obvious reasons for a delay in Burns’s breakthrough beyond the fact that he is a simply a late developer.
“This guy seems to have worked exceptionally hard over the last two years, put a good of effort into his own ability, his shooting, his conditioning and getting himself in peak performance.
“He was one of our go-to guys up front all year. There was one goal in particular against Castlegar [county quarter-final] that he got in the dying moments of the match. He just seemed to come up with vital scores at vital times. We were cognisant of the fact that if we could give him a chance, he would deliver.”
Burns’s arrival coincides with Galway’s revival in the league. After a 12-point thumping at the hands of Tipperary, Micheál Donoghue’s side have registered three wins on the bounce to put them in league final contention. As Donoghue previously indicated, he has used the league to explore the depth of his squad.
Burns is one of 37 players to earn match minutes so far, making his debut alongside fellow newcomers Seán Murphy, Michael Garvey, Oisín Lohan, Rory Burke, Cillian Whelan, Shane Morgan, John Fleming and Cillian Trayers.
Nothing is mathematically certain yet for Galway in the league. Back-to-back losses in the final two rounds could potentially put them in relegation danger if other results don’t fall in their favour.
And Limerick will be targeting a restorative win after their loss to Clare last weekend to apply added pressure. Galway have a reasonably healthy league record against John Kiely’s side. They’ve won two of their last four meetings, while last year’s clash in Pearse Stadium resulted in a 0-17 0-17 draw.
However, Limerick have won the last two championship battles — back-to-back All-Ireland semi-finals in 2022 and 2023, the second of which was a comprehensive nine-point victory.
Against Wexford, they saw a seven-point lead get trimmed down to two in the closing stages. Goalkeeper Mark Fanning also had a late chance to snatch the win for Wexford with a 21-yard free but Galway packed up the goalmouth to secure the result.
For Coen though, coming back home with a result is the most important thing for Galway.
“To go to Wexford Park, even logistically from Galway, is a long old day. They were damn happy to come out of there with the win.”
Amidst the new faces that have featured so far for Galway, there are still a few old familiars nearing a return. Daithí Burke picked up a hamstring injury against Clare while Cathal Mannion has yet to make an appearance this season.
Speaking after the Wexford game, Donoghue hinted that both could feature before the end of the competition. All-Ireland-winning captain David Burke made his 2025 bow against Wexford, scoring two points from play to bring added experience to their selection.
“Does Daithí Burke need to be playing those two games? I don’t think so, particularly if he’s on a dodgy hamstring,” says Coen.
“Rumours would say Cathal Mannion is coming back into fitness and match practice, I would be saying getting 20 minutes into him in either of those games would stand to him going forward.
“It’s very hard to go from zero up to 70 minutes for championship hurling.”
Looking beyond the league, reaching a Leinster final will be the next target on Donoghue’s radar, according to Coen. Galway have not won a provincial title since 2018, have lost three finals since then, and failed to qualify out of the round-robin series last year.
Incidentally, Donoghue was the architect of their demise as manager of the Dublin side who booted them out of the championship.
Now he’s back for a second act as Galway manager, and his plan is starting to take shape.
“Often,” says Coen, “he [Donoghue] can say that he’s on a three-year or four-year plan and for the public to be patient. But when a new manager comes in, whether it’s the Premier League or inter-county hurling, they’re going to get a bounce straight away.
“There is still a very good bunch of players there, a lot of hurt from last year having not qualified [out of Leinster] and a serious appetite to do better.
“They would have felt that they let themselves down a little bit in their own performances. It’s definitely a target to go straight into the Leinster final when they haven’t won it since 2018. The players will want to go straight through the front door and into an All-Ireland semi-final.”
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Allianz Hurling League Division 1A Galway GAA Hurling johnny coen Limerick GAA New blood