St. Thomas' manager John Burke was brimming with pride after his side captured their first Galway SHC title yesterday.

Appearing in their first senior final, the Kilchreest/Peterswell men scored a surprise 3-11 to 2-11 victory over a seasoned Loughrea side at Pearse Stadium. And it was proud day for Burke and his six sons Kenneth (28), Sean (25), David (22), Cathal (20), Darragh (19) and Eanna (17), who all played their part in the success.

"We have been pushing these lads since U12 in 2002. We said to them to stick together and they might go places. It is a great day for the club and brilliant for the parish. We are only a small club in between Gort and Loughrea and it is great to finally emerge now and win it," he enthused.

"Some of the young guys who were out there probably don't even realise how important this day is. It is absolutely brilliant. It was a mad kind of a match. I knew it would probably be. We thought that Loughrea would be there or thereabouts.

"We had a few goal chances that we didn't take and they came back and in a way we were lucky to hold on in the end. It is about the result and we got it, thankfully." Tweet

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