Niall Burke

Niall Burke
Personal information
Irish nameNíall de Búrca
SportHurling
PositionCentre Forward
Born21 May 1991
Galway, Ireland
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Club(s)
YearsClub
2008-Oranmore-Maree
Inter-county(ies)
YearsCounty
2012-Galway
Inter-county titles
Leinster titles1

Niall Burke (born 21 May 1991) is an Irish hurler who currently plays as a centre-forward for the Galway senior team.[1]

Burke made his first appearance for the team during the 2012 National League and immediately became a regular member of the team. An All-Ireland medalist at minor and under-21 levels, Burke has also won a Leinster medal in the senior grade.

At club level Burke plays with the Oranmore-Maree club.

Playing career

Club

Burke plays in the county intermediate championship with the Oranmore-Maree club.

Inter-county

Burke first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Galway minor hurling team in 2009. That year he lined out in his first All-Ireland decider, with Kilkenny providing the opposition. A 2-15 to 2-11 score line gave Galway the victory and gave Burke a coveted All-Ireland medal.[2]

By 2010 Burke had joined the Galway under-21 team and lined out in another All-Ireland final. Tipperary were the opponents on that occasion and, on a day to forget for Burke, handed out a 5-22 to 0-12 thrashing.[3]

Galway's under-21 team qualified for the All-Ireland decider again in 2011. Burke was still a key member of the forwards as Dublin provided the opposition. A 3-14 to 1-10 score line secured the victory for Galway and gave Burke an All-Ireland medal in that grade.[4]

Burke made his debut for the Galway senior team during the 2012 National Hurling League. It was a campaign to forget for 'the Tribesmen', however, Burke emerged as Galway's chief scorer due to the absence of Joe Canning. After making his championship debut later that year, Burke went on to win his first Leinster medal following a 2-21 to 2-11 trouncing of reigning All-Ireland champions and hot favourites Kilkenny.[5] Both sides subsequently met in the All-Ireland decider and Galway nearly pulled off a victory courtesy of goals from Canning and Burke. A 2-13 to 0-19 draw was the result, a first drawn All-Ireland final in over half a century.[6]

Inter-provincial

Burke has also lined out with the Connacht team in the inter-provincial series of games.[7]

References

  1. "RTÉ Sport: Galway 0-20 Dublin 0-13". RTÉ Sport. 26 February 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  2. "RTÉ Sport: Kilkenny 2-11 Galway 2-15". RTÉ Sport. 6 September 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  3. "Galway u-21s blown away by rampant Tipperary". Galway Advertiser. 16 September 2010. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  4. "Galway U-21 3-14 Dublin U-21 1-10". RTÉ Sport. 10 September 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  5. "Electric Galway leave Cats frazzled". Irish Times. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  6. "Galway earn replay against Kilkenny". RTÉ Sport. 11 September 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  7. "Ryan gets Connacht clincher to end brave Ulster’s resistance". Irish Examiner. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2012.