Below their best but no stopping the title holders

Portumna 2-18Dunloy 0-12

STEPHEN GLENNON AT PARNELL PARK

REIGNING All-Ireland senior hurling champions Portumna may have carried the day by a 12-point winning margin but this victory over Ulster kingpins Dunloy in the penultimate stages of the club championship was far from a comfortable experience for the holders.The Galway champions had expected a physical battle from the outset, and they were not disappointed as Dunloy swept into Parnell Park in a flurry of fire and brimstone. Indeed, at times, the field became nothing more than a heated, congested battleground – sheared underfoot of its grass covering, only to be replaced by the thin veil of the dropping sweat of the brow.

So many times, Portumna have won pretty – and pretty big – but in front of a tidy gathering of hurling enthusiasts on Sunday, they were called upon to do it the hard way – to win the ugly way – and they duly obliged.

Indeed, Johnny Kelly’s men had to withstand a determined third quarter rally by Dunloy – in which the Northerners rattled off four unanswered points between the 37th and 46th minutes – before a Joe Canning free got the Portumna juggernaut rolling again.

In many respects, Canning’s point – the free itself earned by the sweat of his own brow – was akin to placing the smelling salts under the champions’ nose. Revived, they rattled off a further four points in as many minutes, as Canning (free), Andrew Smith (2) and Kevin Hayes all found the target to establish a 1-16 to 0-9 lead seven minutes from time. The Dunloy challenge had been finally broken.

If any other team had found themselves under the cosh –as Portumna did in that third quarter – they may have succumbed to an element of self-doubt, but Portumna have proved time and again that they are made of sterner stuff. They lack nothing in backbone.

The contest, itself, opened in whirlwind fashion, with both teams finding the target in the opening 42 seconds. First, Dunloy full-forward Patrick Richmond tallied a super point on just 10 seconds before Damien Hayes fired over the equaliser on the resulting puck-out.

From there, Canning added three frees to put Portumna four points to one up, but Dunloy – who had deployed wing-forward Paul Shiels in a sweeper role – soon had the deficit cut to a single point after Sean Dowds (free) and impressive wing-back Kevin McKeague clipped over a couple of fine efforts.

Again, Portumna upped the ante. Collecting an Ivan Canning puck-out, Kevin Hayes belted over a great point before left-half back Peter Smith and Canning (free) extended their side’s advantage.

On 20 minutes, the victors pounced for their first goal. A swift move involving captain Leo Smith and Canning, who snapped up possession before releasing the sliotar with a deft handpass inside, set up Ciaran Ryan for one of his trademark goals. That score put Portumna 1-8 to 0-3 to the good.

In the closing stages of the half, Canning and Kevin Hayes traded points with Dunloy duo Patrick Doherty and Dowds, but despite Dunloy ‘digging in’, so to speak, the Westerners still held a 1-10 to 0-5 lead at the break.

Although dour enough at times, tactically, it had been an interesting half of hurling. As St. Gall’s had done with Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry in the intermediate semi-final, Dunloy also focused on crowding the middle and denying their opponents space.

For their part, Portumna sought to counteract this by rotating the forwards, which meant, at one point, their two most deadly offensive players, Joe Canning and Damien Hayes, were lining out in the half-forward positions in an effort to secure some meaningful possession to convert to scores.

For more, read page 54 of this week's Connacht Tribune.