St Thomas will head into Sunday's County Senior Hurling Final looking to create history by becoming the first team since Turloughmore in the 1960's in winning the County Cup four years in a row.
At the moment, Kenneth Burke's side are sharing a record with Portumna (2007 - 2009) and Athenry (1998 - 2000) in recent years to have won the Championship three years running but neither could emulate Turlough who won the championship an incredible six times in a row from 1961 - 1966.
Only Castlegar (1936 - 1940) have won the championship on more than three occasions, winning it five times in a row.
Not that it will bother St Thomas, who have been peerless in this year's championship winning all five of their games in the run up to the final including a 33 point win over Gort in the Semi-Final.
Niall Canavan has been speaking to manager Kenneth Burke and midfielder David Burke ahead of Sunday's Final.
Niall first spoke to Kenneth Burke:
Niall then spoke to David Burke
2021 Brooks County Senior Hurling Championship
St Thomas – Route To The Final
Senior A Hurling Championship Group 2
| Position | Team | Points | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | For | Against |
| 1 | St Thomas | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 53 |
| 2 | Cappataggle | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 56 | 55 |
| 3 | Killimordaly | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 60 | 68 |
| 4 | Liam Mellows | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 49 | 63 |
Round One – Sat 11th September
St Thomas 2-24 Killimordaly 3-13
Round Two – Sun 26th September
St Thomas 2-21 Liam Mellows 0-15
Round Three – Sun 10th October
St Thomas 0-17 Cappataggle 1-13
Quarter Final – Sunday 24th October
St Thomas 3-29 Kilconieron 1-9
Semi-Final – Sunday 21st November
St Thomas 4-20 Gort 0-9
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St Thomas Scorers - 2021 Championship
Conor Cooney 2-56 (0-40 frees, 0-2 sixty fives)
Eanna Burke 3-13
Oisin Flannery 3-9
James Regan 1-7
Darragh Burke 1-6
Cathal Burke 0-5
Bernard Burke 0-5
David Burke 0-4
Damien McGlynn 1-1
Brendan Farrell 0-2
Shane Cooney 0-1, free
Evan Duggan 0-1
Victor Manso 0-1
Scores For: 11-111
Scores Against 5-49
Average Score For: 28.8 points
Average Score Against: 12.8 points
- Conor Cooney has scored 43% of their scores.
- Eanna Burke and Oisin Flannery in the full forward line have scored a combined 6-22.
- Cathal Burke has scored 0-5 from left half back.
- 13 players have scored for St.Thomas’ in the championship.
- St.Thomas’ have never lost a county final.
- St.Thomas’ have not conceded a goal in their last 4 county finals.
- Conor Cooney is hoping to captain St.Thomas’ to the title for the fourth year in a row. Their other winning captains were Robert Murray (2012) and Patrick Skehill (2016).
- St.Thomas’ won the All-Ireland club title in 2013.
St.Thomas’ Captain- Conor Cooney
Conor Cooney has once again been in stellar form as St.Thomas’ qualified for their sixth county senior hurling final in ten years. Cooney has been one of the top forwards in the club and county scene for many years. He is St.Thomas’ top scorer this year and has accounted for 2-56 of their scoring tally in this year’s championship.
Thus far, Conor Cooney has won five county senior titles with St.Thomas’ and indeed he has captained them to their last three crowns and if St.Thomas’ win on Sunday he will become only the second person to captain the winning team in four county titles in a row (Castlegar’s Matt Hackett captained his club to 5 titles in a row between 1936 and 1940). He has also won an All-Ireland club medal with St.Thomas’ as well as two county under 21 medals (2013 as captain) and one county minor medal.
Conor Cooney has the unique distinction of winning All-Ireland titles at minor, under 21 and senior level with Galway as well as two National League medals and three Leinster senior hurling championships. He was awarded an All-Star in 2017.
Conor Cooney Achievements:
All-Ireland Senior Hurling: 2017
Leinster Championship Hurling: 2012, 2017, 2018
National Hurling League: 2017, 2021
All-Ireland Under 21 Hurling: 2012
All-Ireland Minor Hurling: 2009
County Senior Hurling: 2012, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020
All-Ireland Club Hurling: 2013
County Under 21 “A”: 2011, 2013
County Minor “A”: 2008
Connacht Colleges Senior Hurling: 2008, 2009
All-Star: 2017
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St Thomas – Previous County Final Appearances
2020 St Thomas’s 1-14 Turloughmore 0-15
2019 St Thomas’s 1-13 Liam Mellows 0-14
2018 St Thomas’s 2-13 Liam Mellows 0-10
2016 St Thomas’s 1-11 Gort 0-10
2012 St Thomas’s 3-11 Loughrea 2-11
