Galway-based company Thermo King recently maintained its proud tradition in inter-firms hurling by contesting the All-Ireland junior decider for the second year on the trot. And despite suffering a heartbreaking loss to Procter & Gamble, joint-team managers Mike Conneely and Noel Morrissey had reason to feel proud of their team's efforts. Despite being under-rated and under-exposed, the inter-firms competition continues to provide huge enjoyment for thousands of company employees across the country each year. And contrary to general belief, the competition is taken very seriously by many teams, with county, provincial and All-Ireland titles being much sought after prizes. On December 3 last, Galway-based company Thermo King contested their second All-Ireland junior hurling inter-firms final in-a-row but as in 2004, defeat proved to be their lot as they succumbed to Procter & Gamble of Nenagh by 0-10 to 0-12. The loss came as a huge disappointment, especially after Thermo King's impressive victory over highly-rated Kilkenny outfit Dunreidy Engineering in the semi-final. "We were gutted with the result, we were in it right up to the end but they (Procter & Gamble) got two points in injury-time to leave us heartbroken for the second year running," says Mike Conneely, who shares the Thermo King managerial duties with Noel Morrissey. "The previous year we were beaten by Limerick Garda in the final, so we were desperate to make amends for that disappointment. It was basically the same team and the lads didn't want to finish on the losing side again. This was our 30th year competing in the inter-firms and it would have been great to celebrate it by winning another All-Ireland title. "But despite leaving no stone unturned in our preparations, we didn't perform on the day and that was the most disappointing thing of all." Thermo King, which employs 550 at its manufacturing plant at Mervue Industrial Estate in Galway, boasts a proud tradition in inter-firms competition. Since first competing in 1976, the company has won three All-Ireland senior hurling titles, 16 Galway senior titles and two county junior crowns. The All-Ireland victories of 1991, '92 and '95 are still fondly remembered when such hurling notables as Tommy Kenny (Sarsfields), Noel Morrissey (Sarsfields), Mike Corcoran and Jimmy Burke (both Turloughmore) playing starring roles. In football, Thermo King also has a distinguished history, reaching All-Ireland senior finals in 1991 and 1992 but hasn't fielded in competition since 1997. Both finals resulted in defeats to Portlaoise Prison Officers and Braun of Carlow respectively. Thermo King had a tough passage to last year's All-Ireland junior hurling final. They opened their campaign with a 2-15 to 2-11 victory over old rivals Boston Scientific at the Liam Mellows grounds in July. The sides were level at half-time, but Thermo King got on top in the closing stages with goals from John Keane and Keith Carr helping them to a hard-earned win. With Fordham Builders also defeating Boston Scientific and just three teams competing, Thermo King qualified automatically for the county final which took place on August 17. With the likes of Ollie Fahy and the Gantley brothers, Finbarr, Rory and Joe, in their line-up, Fordham were favourites, but Thermo King were determined not to give up their title and a brace of Keith Carr goals from 20-metre frees, plus another from John Keane, had them perched on a 3-1 to 0-6 lead at the interval. Fordham threw everything at Thermo King in the second half, but crucial scores from Carr, Alan Martin, Darren Shaughnessy, Shane Coen and Ken Walsh saw Thermo King hold on for a 3-11 to 3-8 victory. Thermo King went straight through to the Connacht final where they squared up to Ericsson of Athlone at Kilcreest on September 7. When the sides met at the same stage in 2004, Thermo King needed to call on all their battling qualities to prevail, but on this occasion they had things very much their own way as the romped to a 3-22 to 1-10 victory. The Galway kingpins laid the foundations for their success in the first half, when favoured by a strong breeze, they build up a commanding lead at the break. John Keane, Shane Coen and Keith Carr all found the net, while Alan Martin also made a fine contribution to the scoring. Thermo King made the long journey to Lisdowney in Co. Kilkenny to face Dunreidy Engineering for a place in the All-Ireland final. Despite being out of action for nearly two months, the visitors showed no signs of rustiness and made a dream start to lead by 1-4 to no score after 15 minutes. However, Dunreidy came back strongly after that and had reduced the deficit to two points before Shane Coen's second goal and a brace of late points from Alan Martin gave Thermo King victory on a 3-12 to 1-11 scoreline. The All-Ireland final at Ballindereen turned out to be another hard-luck story for Thermo King. A replay looked to be on the cards until two late points by Ken Dunne and Seamus Hassett gave Procter & Gamble a narrow victory. As in the All-Ireland semi-final, Thermo King settled quickly and were 0-4 to 0-2 in front after 15 minutes, But with Tipperary panelist Dunne in unerring form from placed balls and open play, Procter & Gamble recovered to lead by 0-8 to 0-5 at the interval. Thermo King had wind advantage in the second half and hit four points in succession to edge ahead with 11 minutes remaining. But after former Tipperary star Eddie Tucker brought the sides level, Procter & Gamble finished the stronger to take the spoils. Traditionally, Thermo King teams have been dominated by players from Sarsfields, but last year there was an even spread between Ballinderry, Carnmore, Turloughmore, Liam Mellows and Sarsfields. Carnmore's Declan O'Brien is the only member of the team with senior inter-county experience, although big things are expected of Sarsfields' Kerril Wade after his All-Ireland winning performances for the Galway minor and under 21 teams in the last few seasons. "We did well to get to the final without having any big-name players in our team," notes Noel Morrissey, who won an All-Ireland Masters medal with Galway last year. Along with Tommy Kenny, he has featured in all three of Thermo King's All-Ireland successes and continues to line out for both company and club (Sarsfields). Tommy also won an All-Ireland Masters medal with the Tribesmen in 2005. Both Mike, who hails from Barna, and Noel are extremely appreciative of the financial support the hurling team has received from the company's Sports and Social Club, and from plant manager Frank O'Connor. "We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Sports and Social Club and Frank O'Connor for their financial backing. We have a very active Sports and Social Club which caters for 12 different sports. We also do some fundraising ourselves and held a competition to win All-Ireland hurling final tickets this year. "Running an inter-firm hurling team is a costly business, especially as hurls and balls don't come cheaply. At this time of the year, we lose a lot of sliothars because clubs have put away their ball-stopping nets for the winter," Conneely explains. Thermo King is the world leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of temperature control and air conditioning equipment for transportation vehicles. The Galway plant was established in 1976 and currently services over 140 countries. Thermo King Galway has won numerous Environmental, Quality, Safety, and Manufacturing awards over the years. A recent development at their Galway plant is the establishment of a Research and Development Centre. In this centre, the next generation of transport refrigeration units are being developed. Engineers use advanced Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacture software tools to develop computer models of their latest products. These concepts can be numerically tested using simulations tools such as CFD and FEA techniques to optimise the design. In conclusion, Mike says: "Obviously last year ended in disappointment, but it was still a great achievement to reach the All-Ireland final. The standard is getting higher every year, but we are determined to bounce back this year and hopefully it will prove to be a case of third-time lucky." Tweet

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