Battling his way out of the toughest corners, 2008 proved to be another memorable year for Galway defender Damien Burke. Just over a decade on from his club side Corofin's last All-Ireland success, the Connacht kingpins found themselves right back in the mix once more in the past season. Twelve months ago if you'd asked Damien Burke to choose between All-Ireland inter-county or club glory, you would have got a swift answer that the top prize in the Gaelic football - the Sam Maguire Cup - comes as a first priority every time. However, the circumstances have changed somewhat in recent times. Corofin's run in the All-Ireland Senior Football Club Championship over the last few months have brought a new objective to the club that mirrors into that of the Galway champions' one and only success in 1998. Last season itself started off with two simple objectives for Burke on the football pitch. Number one, first and foremost, was to regain the Connacht SFC with Galway, after the rather embarrassing defeat at the hands of Sligo in the provincial decider the previous year left many across the country doubting the Tribesmen's capability to compete up there with the other 'big guns' in the land. The first move from the Galway County Board's point of view was to install Liam Sammon as Galway football's new commander and chief. An All-Ireland winner with Galway in the late 60's, Sammon was (and still continues to be) a well respected figure around the county for his contributions to Galway, as both a former player and teacher at St Mary's College. Before getting his heels stuck in with the Tribesmen, he released his second book on GAA coaching, entitled: 'Optimising Performance In Gaelic Football' and Burke explains that Galway have stood by its guild lines since the popular appointment. "The appointment was welcome," said Burke. "I think there has been a real change of scenery since Liam's came in. He has brought a real urgency to the group. "Everything we do in training we do with the ball, so when it comes to a game we are trying to move the ball fast and score as much as possible." Many will associate Galway's 2008 season as being cut short by, arguably, Kerry's best showing of the year in August. Sammon's team had done their bit up front by putting up an impressive 1-16 on the All-Ireland champions, but when the rain poured down and the lights were flicked on for the closing stages at Croke Park, the Kingdom still, somehow, prevailed by five points to take their place in the All-Ireland semi-finals. Four months beforehand, the same opposition had foiled Galway's attempts to reach the National Football League final, when Pat O'Shea's men overcame the hosts at Pearse Stadium by the same margin to take their place in the decider, which, incidentally, they would lose to a mighty second-half performance from Derry. Once Galway had met their match in the NFL, only one thing was going through the players' minds, according to Burke. "The Connacht championship was a huge objective for us," said Burke. "We were really up for it after losing out to Sligo the previous year." It started with a total hammering of Roscommon followed by a hosting of Leitrim at Pearse Park in mid-June, where the Tribesmen were treated to a tough encounter against one of the western province's minnows. In the end, Galway came through with just four points to spare over the visitors, but the unexpected proved to provide the perfect tonic before they'd come up against stiffer opposition in their old rivals in the Connacht decider. Yes, it was Mayo. John O'Mahony's charges had mauled defending champions Sligo by 3-11 to 0-7, which was enough to convince the bookies to have them entering the Connacht final as favourites, given Galway's below performance against Dessie Dolan's Leitrim. Burke lined out in the number four jersey as Galway bidded for their 44th JJ Nestor Cup and first provincial crown since 2005. First-half goals from Padraig Joyce and Fiachra Breathnach saw the Tribesmen take a four-point lead by the halfway mark at McHale Park, but Mayo edged back into things through Alan Dillon and were ahead when Aidan Kilcoyne netted the hosts' only goal on 51 minutes. With 10 minutes to go, Galway's promising season looked to be crumbling before them, but three points in as many minutes from Sean Armstrong, Paul Conroy and Cormac Bane saw Sammon's men edge out their neighbours 2-12 to 1-14 and end a three-year wait for provincial glory. Burke recalls the game at Castlebar that day as similar to those of past circumstances between Galway and Mayo, where it has come down to the bare minimum to decide a winner. "I think it's been the same between the two teams for a while now," he said. "Nearly every time we've meet over the last couple of years there's only be a point, or two, in it. Neither team wants to lose to each other and, like many on the Galway team, I'd know a lot of lads from Mayo, so it adds that extra incentive to want to beat them. "It was one of the biggest games of the year from our point of view, and a tough one at that. Thankfully we got through it." After that, 2008 is history from Galway's perspective. A 1-21 to 1-16 loss to Kerry at GAA headquarters a month later spelled the end of their All-Ireland championship for another year. Burke struggles to pin-point where exactly it all went wrong for Galway on that miserable August evening in Dublin, but acknowledges that Kerry showed just why they are considered as the aristocrats of the game, with that final 15-minute rout of the Connacht champions. "I think we were ready for the game, but they seemed to just have too much for us in the end," the defender admitted. "We put up a big score on them, but they came back with a brilliant performance in the last quarter. "It's always disappointing to go out of the championship," he added. "After we'd won Connacht we certainly weren't afraid of Kerry going into the quarter-final, but they proved that day that they are a classy outfit." As is custom for every inter-county player, Burke was in attendance at Croke Park a few weeks later to watch two "classy outfits" collide, with Tyrone turning the tables on the Kingdom by producing an epic final quarter to take their third Sam Maguire crown. How the mighty had fallen on that memorable September day for those associated with GAA across the country, but by then priority number two was approaching full swing mode for both Burke and Corofin. Under the managership of Jimmy Sice, Corofin set their targets high before the season started and Burke admits that it turned out to be as difficult as expected. "Our priority at the start of the year was to go out and win the county championship," Burke said. "After losing out the previous year, Jimmy came in and made that clear to us before we could get too far ahead of ourselves with ambitions in Connacht and maybe even outside it. "It was tough," he admitted. "The county championship in Galway had probably thrown up the hardest games of any we played this season. We got ourselves into some tough positions, which we probably learned from in the long run." One of Corofin's sternest learning curves came in late September when they saw off Caherlistrane by a single point, after opening up a 1-10 to 0-7 lead on their opponents early in the second-half, to hold out for a place in the county final against Cartoon Shamrocks. A shaky start from Sice's men saw the two teams go in level at the break at Pearse Stadium. Corofin had under performed in the first-half, not registering a score from Alan O'Donovan's opener until the added on minutes of the half. The favourites would need some inspiration before going out for a season-defining second half-hour. "Father Hughes, our parish priest, came into the dressing room at half-time and gave an inspirational speech," explained Burke's fellow defender Kieran Fitzgerald. "He's a very knowledgeable man in football and we didn't need to say any more." Understandably, Corofin hit the ground running in the second-half, with points from Michael Cormer, David Hanley and Joe Canney edging them into a 0-6 to 0-4 lead with ten minutes remaining. The Shamrocks narrowed the gap down to one in the closing stages, but further white flags from O'Donovan and Canney hauled Corofin over the finish line and to their 12th Frank Fox Cup. "There were celebrations in the club after, like any," said Burke, "but a few days later we were back training and focusing on Connacht." A convincing win over Castlrea in November ranked Sice's team as the fancied side once again heading into a decider. This time provincial honours were at stake and a tricky Sligo side by the name of Eastern Harps stood in their way. Two weeks' later Corofin were, unexpectedly, handed home advantage for the encounter and saw off the Yeats' champions by five points at Pearse Stadium, with Damien's cousin, Alan Burke, turning in a 'Man of the Match' performance to help his club to a fourth Connacht SFC crown. Sice's troops looked to be getting better with each game. Up front, the likes of Alan O'Donovan and Joe Canney were doing the damage, while at the back Kieran Fitzgerald, and the two Burkes were holding the fort. A win over the London champions and it all meant that they'd be 60 minutes away from an All-Ireland final at Croke Park. "We knew a place in the semi-finals was there for us, but we had to beat the London champions first," explained Burke. "We got two soft enough goals in the first-half, and in fairness that's all there was between the sides." Indeed. A month with out action, after completing the double in Galway by picking up the Senior A league title in December, Corofin travelled across the Channel to Ruislip and showed some signs of rustiness in the New Year, needing two somewhat fortuitous goals from Greg Higgins and Aidan Donnellan in the first-half to confirm their place in the last four of the All-Ireland series against Kilmacud Crokes. Once again, Alan Burke had shined and left-half back along side his sibling in the Corofin defence, helping him to earn the 'Connacht Club Player of the Year' award, but the men from the west still felt as though the big prize was just around the corner for them as they bidded to topple Leinster's finest in the weeks ahead. However, Mark Vaughan's 1-6 on that bitter February afternoon in Mullingar foiled Corofin and their chances of a return to an All-Ireland decider, as Crokes marched onto the final on a score-line of 2-11 to 0-11, where they would shock Crossmaglen Rangers at Croker on St Patrick's day to collect the All-Ireland crown. For the past couple of years now, Damien has worked for his father, Pat, and uncle, Morris, with Burke's Coaches as Transport Manager. A bus coaching company that has been in operation since 1964 in Claretuam, Galway and employs 10 full-time employees. Tweet

Most Read Stories