St. Thomas' crowned All-Ireland Club Hurling champions

AIB GAA All-Ireland Club Hurling Final: St. Thomas 1-11 Kilcormac-Killoughey 1-9

St. Thomas are the All-Ireland Club Hurling Champions for the first time in their history, after defeating Kilcormac-Killoughey by two points at Croke Park on St. Patrick's Day.

The Galway champions dug out the victory, having trailed 1-9 to 1-7 with just over 20 minutes to go. They hit the final four points of the game, while the sending off of both Kilcormac-Killoughey midfielders in the final 10 minutes, Killian Leonard and Damien Kilmartin, left the Offaly side with a mountain to climb in the closing stages.

St. Thomas got level at 1-9 apiece on 49 minutes, and their Galway intercounty star Conor Cooney took them over the line, as he struck the final two points of the game, both from play, to give them the win.

St. Thomas edged a competitive first half, and led 1-7 to 1-5 after the first 30 minutes. Driving rain and sleet affected the conditions in the latter stages of the first half, but both sides finished the opening period strongly.

The opening 10 minutes were characterised by some nervousness from both teams, as they struggled to find their range, registering a lot of wides and generally failing to retain possession for long.

It was 0-3 apiece after 11 minutes. All three Kilcormac-Killoughey scores came from placed balls from Ciarán Slevin, one an outstanding sideline cut from the right wing. St. Thomas were much more threatening from play, with James Regan, Anthony Kelly and Bernard Burke all clipping over fine efforts from open action.

St. Thomas were beginning to play increasingly fluent hurling as the half went on, and edged ahead for the first time when Conor Cooney knocked over a free. However, moments later, on 18 minutes, KK regained the lead when Trevor Fletcher, in for the injured Daniel Currams, found the net.

It all came from a long ball which the St. Thomas defence didn't deal with. A coming together of hurls close to goal flicked the sliotar in the direction of the onrushing Fletcher, who swung his hurl at it, missed it, and then cleverly kicked it into the corner of the net.

That made it 1-3 to 0-4, but St. Thomas soon regained the lead when they scored a goal of their own. It all came about from a Cooney free. He stood over a placed ball 20 metres from goal, and despite the fact that there were just 25 minutes played, and that there was just one point between them at that stage, he went for goal.

His shot was blocked by the defenders on the line, but it fell into the path of full-forward Richie Murray, who crashed to the net.

Kilcormac-Killoughey recovered well, and Slevin kept the scoreline tight with two nerveless frees in the closing minutes of the half. However, a sublime Kenneth Burke score from the right wing left St. Thomas two ahead going in.

Three superb Slevin frees after the restart put Kilcormac-Killoughey 1-9 to 1-7 ahead after 41 minutes, and the Leinster champions were battling superbly, getting blocks in all over the pitch, and stifling St. Thomas, despite the fact that the western club had more possession and were creating more chances from play.

St. Thomas restored parity with just over 10 minutes to go, courtesy of two excellent Murray points, the second of which was a wonderful finish following a great catch and sharp turn.

The match couldn't have been more evenly poised going into the final 10 minutes, and it could have gone either way, but the sending off of Leonard, for a foul on Darragh Burke, proved decisive.

Equally decisive was the entrance of the sixth Burke brother, Éanna, as a substitute after 42 minutes. He proved highly influential around the middle, and was involved in both Cooney points, which ultimately won the day.

Scorers for Kilcormac-Killoughey: C Slevin 0-8 (5f, 1 '65, 1 sl), T Fletcher 1-1,

Scorers for St. Thomas: R Murray 1-2, C Cooney 0-5 (2f, 1 '65), J Regan 0-1, A Kelly 0-1, B Burke 0-1, K Burke 0-1

Kilcormac-Killoughey: C Slevin; J Grogan, G Healion, A McConville; K Grogan, P Healion, B Leonard; D Kilmartin, K Leonard; C Slevin, C Mahon, P Geraghty; J Gorman, T Fletcher, T Geraghty

Subs: M Leonard for T Fletcher (55), C Guinan for P Geraghty (57)

St. Thomas: P Skehill; C Burke, R Murray, S Skehill; E Tannion, D Burke, S Burke; K Burke, D Burke; S Cooney, C Cooney, J Regan; A Kelly, R Murray, B Burke.

Subs: É Burke for A Kelly (42), G Murray for B Burke (59)

Referee: John Sexton (Cork)