St Thomas 1-25
Loughgiel Shamrocks 3-19
A last-gasp goal by Liam Watson rescued a draw for Loughgiel Shamrocks against St Thomas in this evening’s AIB All-Ireland club semi-final clash.
St Thomas looked set for victory until Watson slammed home a 20-yard free in a sensational finish to the game.
With Conor Cooney shooting 0-12, including the point that sent the game into extra-time, and Gerald Murray grabbing a goal in the 70th minute, St Thomas looked poised to book their berth in the St Patrick’s Day decider against Kilcormac-Killoughey.
But instead Watson kept alive the Loughgiel hopes of retaining their All-Ireland club crown when he raised a green flag with the last puck of the game against a St Thomas team who finished with 14 men after Kenneth Burke was shown a second yellow card.
In normal time Shay Casey’s goal for Loughgiel Shamrocks had been the crucial first-half score when he bundled the ball to the net after a long delivery forward,
Cooney had helped the Galway champions get off to a bright start as they lead 0-4 to 0-2 early on.
But Loughgiel fought back with Liam Watson and Eddie McCloskey amongst their point-scorers. A Joseph Scullion 14th minute point left Loughgiel ahead by 0-5 to 0-4 but St Thomas fought back through points from Kenneth Burke and James Regan to take the lead.
Then Casey’s goal arrived and that was followed by a pair of converted frees by Watson with another sideline from Cooney the only response for St Thomas as Loughgiel Shamrocks hold a two-point advantage at the break.
St Thomas enjoyed a purple patch after the interval with fantastic attacking showings from Cooney, Bernard Burke, James Regan and Kenneth Burke. They were in the ascendancy by 0-15 to 1-10 entering the closing stages but Brendan McCarry’s 50th minute goal helped Loughgiel regain the initiative and it took Cooney’s intervention to tie the match at the end of normal time.
St Thomas made the early running in extra-time with Cooney in magnificent form before Gerald Murray landed a crucial goal for them in the 70th minute.
Yet Loughgiel, who had fine attacking showings from McCarry, Joseph Scullion and Eddie McCloskey, kept battling on and were rewarded when Watson emerged as the hero with his late strike to the net.
Scorers for St Thomas: Conor Cooney 0-12 (0-2 sideline, 0-2f, 0-1 ’65), Bernard Burke 0-4, Gerald Murray 1-1, Kenneth Burke, James Regan 0-3 each, David Burke, Richie Murray 0-1 each.
Scorers for Loughgiel Shamrocks: Liam Watson 1-7 (1-6f), Brendan McCarry, 1-2, Shay Casey 1-1, Joseph Scullion 0-4, Eddie McCloskey 0-3, Tony McCloskey 0-2.
St Thomas: Patrick Skehill; Sean Skehill, Robert Murray, Cathal Burke; Enda Tannion, Darragh Burke, Sean Burke; Kenneth Burke, David Burke; Shane Cooney, Conor Cooney, James Regan; Anthony Kelly, Richie Murray, Bernard Burke.
Subs: Eanna Burke for Kelly, Anthony Kelly for Eanna Burke, Eanna Burke for Cathal Burke, Gerald Murray for Shane Cooney.
Loughgiel Shamrocks: Damien Quinn; Paul Gillan, Neil McGarry, Mark McFadden; James Campbell, Martin Scullion, Johnny Campbell; Barney McAuley, Tony McCloskey; Liam Watson, Declan Laverty, Eddie McCloskey; Brendan McCarry, Joseph Scullion, Shay Casey.
Subs: S Dobbin for Laverty
Referee: Barry Kelly (Westmeath)
