14-man St Thomas' snatch dramatic All-Ireland club glory

Drama upon drama at Croke Park. Eanna Burke struck a remarkable winning point for 14-man St Thomas' deep into stoppage time to secure the AIB All-Ireland club SHC title, 11 years after they claimed their last one, but will O'Loughlin Gaels cry foul? Perhaps so.

The clock was well into the 65th minute when Burke cleverly took the ball away from a ruck of players out on the left wing beneath the Hogan Stand and split the posts for a sumptuous score at the Hill 16 End.

It was a score worthy of winning any All-Ireland and will be replayed for many years to come around the Galway stronghold.

The win was even more impressive as St Thomas' played most of the second half with just 14 players following the sending off of attacker James Regan. They were trailing by a point at that stage and shortly after went two down.

Yet O'Loughlin Gaels would appear to have plenty to complain about as a goal which they appeared to score, when Owen Wall had a shot apparently cleared from behind the goal-line by St Thomas' full-back Fintan Burke, wasn't given.

It was hard to be conclusive on it but TV replays appeared to show the ball being carried over the line in the eighth minute before Burke recovered and punted it away. From that clearance, St Thomas' scored a point so it was a four-point swing in scoring terms.

Galway star David Burke was named player of the match for his huge display, another impressive feat considering he only recently returned from a cruciate knee ligament injury.

There were important scores too from the likes of Conor Cooney, Victor Manso and goalkeeper Gerald Kelly as six-in-a-row Galway champions St Thomas' turned in a powerful second-half display to claim the national title.

All the talk beforehand was of the players being