Battling Portumna boys lack the forward power to disrupt Kilkenny rivals in A semi-final
Date Published: {J}
Darren Kelly in Drom & Inch
A fortuituous Mason Clifford goal five minutes from time killed off an attempted Portumna revival in the All-Ireland Colleges ‘A’ hurling semi-final last Saturday, but while the 13 point margin may have flattered them, there was no doubt Kilkenny CBS were worthy winners of this encounter.
It was a 24 minute scoreless spell either side of half-time that sealed Portumna Community School’s fate as after a Paul Killeen penalty had levelled matters at 1-2 to 0-5 on 21 minutes, Kilkenny would score 1-6 without reply to give them a cushion before finishing with two late goals.
The first half was an enjoyable, physical and intense contest and the only disappointing statistic after those 30 minutes was the scoreboard showing Portumna trailing 1-7 to 1-2. Ruairi O’Tuairisg’s side attacked from the start and Niall Maloney forced a stop from the Kilkenny defenders in the opening minute.
Joe Starr raised the first white flag 60 seconds later but Portumna were struggling to get past the Kilkenny half back line with Niall Mullins and Robbie Fitzpatrick excelling, followed by centre back Owen McGrath in the second half. In response, Kilkenny CBS found scoring opportunities easier and had four points on the board by the 10th minute.
Darragh Sheehan, Ciaran Doyle, Clifford and Philly Campion raised the white flags before Doyle added another following a Killeen ’65 to leave it 0-5 to 0-2 on 15 minutes. While some yellow cards had been dispensed, this wasn’t a dirty contest and was played by two determined outfits.
Slipping behind, Portumna needed to create and were nearly rewarded when Ronan O’Meara and Starr combined to set up Owen Treacy but the Portumna centre forward was denied by a good Darragh Holohan save. However, the Dicksboro keeper wasn’t as lucky five minutes later.
Another Portumna CS attack saw Treacy being the provider on this occasion as he sent O’Meara into the danger area. The corner forward was brought down by Evan Cody for a penalty and knowing his side needed a major, Killeen struck to the net to restore parity.
For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.