Noel Lane

For the police officer killed by an IRA bomb, see Harrods bombing.

Noel Lane

Personal information
Irish name	Nollaig Ó Laighin
Sport	Hurling
Position	Forward
Born	11 December 1954 (1954-12-11) (age 56) Ballyglass, County Galway
Club(s)
Years	Club
	Ballinderreen
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County
1977-1990	Galway
Inter-county titles
Connacht titles	0
All Irelands	3
NHL	2
All Stars	2

Noel Lane (born December 11, 1954 in Ballyglass, County Galway) is a retired Irish hurling manager and former player. He played hurling with his local club Ballinderreen and with the Galway senior inter-county team from 1977 until 1990. Lane served as manager of the Galway senior inter-county team from 2000 until 2002. He is regarded as one of Galway's greatest-ever players.

Early life

Noel Lane was born in Ballyglass, County Galway in 1954. He was educated locally at Ballyglass national school where he first came into contact with the game of hurling. He later attended Our Lady's College in Gort where he played in an All-Ireland Colleges hurling final but lost. In spite of being a skilled hurler, Lane's heroes were the Galway Gaelic football side that completed the three-in-a-row between 1964 and 1966.

Playing career

Club

Lane played his club hurling with his local Ballinderreen club and enjoyed some success. The club reached the county final in 1978, however, Lane’s side were beaten after extra-time.

Inter-county

Lane’s talent was quickly spotted by the Galway inter-county hurling selectors and he made his senior debut in a National Hurling League game in 1977. Two years later in 1979 Lane was a full member of the team as Galway shocked the hurling world and defeated reigning champions Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final. Lane’s side later faced Kilkenny in the championship decider, however, they were defeated in one of the least memorable finals of the decade. In spite of this defeat Lane scored a goal in the final that was named "Goal of the Year." In 1980 Galway were back in the All-Ireland final. Limerick were the opponents on that occasion, however, after an absence of fifty-seven years Galway captured the All-Ireland title. It was Lane’s first major triumph at senior level as Croke Park witnessed an outpouring of emotion as the Galway team finally made it back to the top of the hurling world. The following year he lined out in his third consecutive All-Ireland final. Offaly were the opponents and took inspiration from Galway’s victory the previous year by capturing their first All-Ireland title.

Galway went into decline following this defeat; however, Lane collected back-to-back All-Star awards in 1983 and 1984. The team bounced back in 1985 and shocked Cork once again in the All-Ireland semi-final, however, Galway wee defeated by Offaly in the championship decider. 1986 saw Lane appointed captain of the Galway team. That year the men from the West reached the All-Ireland final appearance once again and went into the game with Cork as red-hot favourites. On that occasion Cork gained revenge for previous defeats by beating Galway in an exciting game. In 1987 Lane came on as a substitute to collect his first National League medal. Galway continued their run of success in the championship by reaching their third All-Ireland final in-a-row. The pressure was on the men from Connacht as no team had ever lost three consecutive All-Ireland finals. Lane was named as a substitute for that game; however, his introduction saw him score the winning goal with seven minutes to go. It was Galway’s third title ever and it was Lane’s second All-Ireland medal.

In 1988 Galway were the favourites to retain their title. For the fourth year in succession the team reached the All-Ireland final with Lane once again coming on as a ‘super-sub.’ His crucial goal gave Galway a 1-15 to 0-14 victory and gave Lane a third All-Ireland medal. In 1989 he came on as a substitute to win a second National League medal before Galway were firmly installed as favourites to win a third championship in-a-row. Surprise package Antrim had already qualified for the All-Ireland final, resulting in the winners of the Galway-Tipperary semi-final being virtually guaranteed to take the All-Ireland title. Galway, however, were without the services of star player Tony Keady and duly lost an ill-tempered game. In 1990 Galway reached the All-Ireland final once again with the veteran Lane firmly installed at full-forward. Cork were once again regarded as underdogs; however, in an open and exciting game of hurling they defeated the men from the West on a score line of 5-15 to 2-21. Lane retired from inter-county hurling following this defeat.

Inter-provincial

Lane was also a regular player for Connacht in the inter-provincial hurling competition. He captured Railway Cup titles in 1980, 1982, 1983, 1986 and 1987.

Managerial career

Noel Lane

Inter-county management
Years County 2000 - 2002 Galway
Inter-county titles
County League Province All-Ireland Galway 0 2 0

Galway

In retirement from playing Lane has maintained a keen interest in the game. He was appointed manager of the Galway senior inter-county team in late 2000.

In his first season in charge Lane's Galway surrendered their National Hurling League title, however, Lane's sights were firmly set on the championship. After disposing of Derry in the All-Ireland quarter-final, Galway squared up to reigning champions Kilkenny in the subsequent semi-final. Naturally, 'the Cats' were the favourites, however, Galway masterminded a five point victory over Brian Cody's team.^[1] The subsequent All-Ireland final saw Galway pitted against old rivals Tipperary. Galway staged a comeback in the closing stages of the game, however, Tipp held on to win by a goal.^[2]

In 2002 Galway were regarded as one of the teams to watch in the championship. Defeats over Down and Cork saw Galway reach the All-Ireland quarter-final where they faced Clare. In a close game it was Clare who emerged victorious by a single point.^[3] This was Lane's last game in charge of Galway, however, he has been linked with a return to management on several occasions.

See also

• Mauricius Ó Leaáin, Bishop of Kilmacduagh 1254-1284.
• Seoán Ó Leaáin, Bishop of Clonfert, 1322-1336.
• Sylvie Linnane (born 1956) retired GAA sportsman

References

1. ^ "14-man Galway dethrone Kilkenny". RTÉ Sport. 2001-08-19. http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2001/0819/galway.html. Retrieved 2009-09-10. 
2. ^ "Tipp win All Ireland final". RTÉ Sport. 2001-09-09. http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2001/0909/hurling.html. Retrieved 2009-09-10. 
3. ^ "Clare beat Galway with injury time point". RTÉ Sport. 2002-07-28. http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2002/0728/clare.html. Retrieved 2009-09-10. 

• Brendan Fullam, Captains of the Ash, (2004)

Sporting positions
Preceded by Michael Connolly	Galway Senior Hurling Captain 1986	Succeeded by Conor Hayes
Preceded by Mattie Murphy	Galway Senior Hurling Manager 2000-2002	Succeeded by Conor Hayes
Achievements
Preceded by Ger Cunningham (Munster)	Interprovincial Hurling Final winning captain 1986	Succeeded by Conor Hayes (Connacht)

Teams

Persondata
Name	Lane, Noel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1954-12-11
Place of birth	Ballyglass
Date of death
Place of death