John Commins (hurler)

Infobox GAA player
code= Hurling
sport = Hurling


name = John Commins
irish =
fullname = John Commins
placeofbirth = Gort
countryofbirth = County Galway
dob = 1966
height = 5'11"
nickname =
county = Galway
province = Connacht
club = Gort
clposition = Goalkeeper
clubs =
clyears =
clapps(points) =
clcounty =
clprovince=
clallireland =
counties = Galway
icposition = Goalkeeper
icyears = 1986-1990
icapps(points) = 12 (1-0)
icprovince = 0
icallireland = 2
allstars = 2
clupdate =
icupdate =

John Commins (born 1966) is a former Irish sportsperson. He played senior hurling with Galway from 1986 until 1990.

Early life

John Commins was born in Gort, County Galway in 1965. From a young age he showed great interest in the game of hurling and, in time, he would become a key member of the great Galway team of the 1980s.

Playing career

Club

Commins played his club hurling with his local Gort club. He had some success at underage levels. He won a Senior County championship medal in 1983, and won the Connaught club medal the same year.

Inter-county

Commins first came to prominence as an inter-county hurler on Galway's minor team in the early 1980s. He won an All-Ireland medal in 1983 and quickly graduated onto the under-21 side where he won another All-Ireland medal in 1986. That same year Commins made his debut as goalkeeper on the senior hurling team, with Galway reaching their second consecutive All-Ireland final. In the game against Cork Commins ran the length of the pitch to score a 21 yard free, however, victory still went to the Munster champions. In 1987, in their third All-Ireland final appearance in-a-row, Galway took on Kilkenny. At the third time of asking Galway emerged victorious and Commins finally captured his first All-Ireland medal.

In 1988 Tipperary were Galway's opponents in their fourth consecutive All-Ireland final appearance. Commins had another solid performance as goalkeeper and claimed his second All-Ireland title in the process, before later winning his first All-Star award. In 1989 Commins began the year by winning his first National Hurling League title, however, Galway's star centre-back, Tony Keady, was banned from playing for a year. The side had contemplated withdrawing from the championship in protest, however, they decided to play, eventually losing out to Tipp in the All-Ireland semi-final.Commins received "man of the match" for this performance.

In 1990 Commins played in his fourth All-Ireland final in five seasons. Galway were the hot favourites to beat Cork and it looked as if that prediction would come true when the tribesmen went 7 points up. Cork scored 4 goals in the second half and Commins was the scapegoat for the 5-15 to 2-21 defeat and was dropped from the Galway team for the 1991 championship. At just 25 years-old Commins’s inter-county hurling career had drawn to a close.

Teams