Portumna hold all the aces ahead of delayed final

THREE weeks after the county hurling final was supposed to have been done and dusted, arch rivals Portumna and Loughrea will square up to each other for the fourth time in six years at Pearse Stadium on Sunday. Once more – and for a variety of reasons – Galway is lagging way behind in getting its championships wrapped up, and supporters are wondering why.

It’s been a bad few months for Galway hurling, but we are not going into that now except to say that there is now an overdue burden on the clubs of the county to put vested interests and politics aside and, hopefully, the upcoming annual Hurling Board Convention will mark a turning point in how local GAA business is done. It’s hard enough to win when everyone is pulling together, but when there are factions working to their own agendas, onfield results can be seriously compromised.

Back to the playing fields. Amid expectations of another bruising showdown, there is an onus on both Portumna and Loughrea to behave responsibly in what is traditionally Galway’s showpiece sporting event. Their 2006 decider made headlines for all the wrong reasons as a tempestuous battle ended with Johnny Maher’s late pointed free ending over 60 years in the championship wilderness for Loughrea.

It was the clubs’ third final meeting in four years and against general expectations, Loughrea pulled off a major surprise after falling to Portumna in 2003 (2-13 to 2-9) and 2005 (3-21 to 3-14) – on the latter occasion, they actually stormed into a big first-half lead and it would have been even greater only for Kenneth Colleran failing to finish off another great goal scoring opportunity.

Though Loughrea are perceived as having fallen back since 2006, they are still notoriously difficult to beat as both Beagh and Mullagh discovered in the knock-out rounds of the championship. Though the suspended Nigel Shaughnessy is ruled out of another county final and Greg Kennedy remains sidelined with a shoulder injury, the promotion of county minors, Neil Keary and Johnny Coen, has given their attack a fresh dimension.

Having already secured a notable title double at minor and junior A level, Loughrea will not lack for ambition on Sunday and they have no shortage of battle-hardened players in the likes of Damien McClearn, Tom Regan, Johnny Dooley, Gavin Keary, Brian O’Mahony, the Mahers, Vinny and Johnny, and Johnny O’Loughlin. They will relish another crack at Portumna and, unlike most other teams, won’t have a defeatist mindset ahead of the ball being thrown in.In reality, nearly all the pressure is on Portumna. They desperately want to become the first team ever to win the All-Ireland Club title three years in a row and with Antrim winners, Dunloy, awaiting the Galway champions next February, Johnny Kelly’s squad must have a great chance of making hurling history if they come through Sunday’s test.

Significantly, Portumna haven’t been beaten in championship hurling since losing to Loughrea in the 2006 final and though untypically leaking goals in the closing stages of their semi-final clash against Gort, they have experienced little hardship in reaching a record-breaking seventh consecutive county final. It’s some consistency by any standards and their players remain as committed and focussed as ever.

Of course, the border men have been out of competitive action for nearly five weeks now through no fault of their own, but they are so experienced and battle-hardened that this unscheduled break will only have had a minimal impact on their preparations. They are probably more concerned about the continuing bad weather which has the potential to turn Sunday’s decider into a low scoring, close marking and rugged affair.

No team has put Portumna under severe pressure in this year’s Galway championship and given that they have a score to settle with Loughrea from two years ago, there is no danger of team captain Leo Smith and his colleagues being caught off their guard. Overall, the champions should have too much class, craft and composure for a Loughrea outfit which, however, can be expected to die with their boots on.

STRANGE MOVE

IT’S all very mannerly the way the rugby lads do it. At a time when hurling inter-county team managers, Mike McNamara and Justin McCarthy are the victims of player revolts in Clare and Limerick respectively, Connacht coach Michael Bradley has announced that he is resigning . . . but wait for it, not until next May!

In the GAA world, it would be frowned upon and do nothing for squad morale if a team manager indicated he was stepping down at the end of a campaign to pursue pastures new. Why not go now rather than risking the perception of being a ‘lame duck’ in the role? Bradley, it is understood, is being given the time and opportunity to consider other options while the Connacht Branch are now publically in the marketplace for a new coach.

But couldn’t all that have been done behind the scenes with no mid-season announcement about Bradley’s future. How can he possibly hope to motivate his squad in the weeks and months ahead when the players know he won’t be with them next season? It has to make for a difficult working environment at the Sportsground even if there isn’t a shred of doubt about Bradley’s commitment to the Connacht cause.

The Cork native and former Irish scrum half – a fine one he was too – has given sterling and dedicated service to Connacht over the past seven seasons, but he has been hamstrung by a restricted budget which results in his team not competing on a level playing field. During Bradley’s tenure, however, the Sportsground has witnessed some rollicking displays, not least last season’s wins over both Leinster and Munster in the Magners League while he also steered the province to two European Challenge Cup semi-finals.

Of course, there have been criticisms of Bradley’s team selections and his tactical approach at times, but nearly every team manager across the sporting spectrum gets that. Yet few supporters will argue against the general view that his race is run out west as seven years is a long time in the same place, especially when most of that time has been spent fire-fighting due to Connacht’s lack of financial resources.

The squad badly needs fresh impetus and new coaching ideas, and though that will happen next season, you’d just wonder if the Connacht Branch and Bradley should have kept the whole thing to themselves for the time being. I can see where they are coming from, but it’s bound to become an unnecessary distraction – fuelling speculation about where Bradley might end up and who will be taking over Connacht – in the short to medium term. It wouldn’t be the GAA’s way of doing things but, at least in rugby, team managers are spared the indignity of getting the heave in the middle of a campaign.

TETCHY TRAP

BY and large, Giovanni Trapattoni is still onside with the Republic of Ireland’s soccer followers. After all, Richard Dunne and company have gone through their World Cup qualifying campaign unbeaten and have a sporting chance of overcoming France in a two legged play-off to book their place to South Africa. But one senses the Italian could quickly fall out of favour if things go pear shaped for his squad in the next ten days.

Trapattoni’s controversial decision to omit both the Reids, the in-form Andy and fit-again Stephen, and Stephen Finnan from the squad is an almighty gamble and while the manager’s loyalty to the players who got him to the play-offs in the first place is admirable, his intransigence in this area could come back to haunt him. Trapattoni is a conservative by nature, but by not picking the best players available to him, he is running the risk of scoring an own goal.

GOOD VALUE

THE huge crowd which turned up in Duggan Park last Sunday certainly got their money’s worth. An above average county minor final saw Loughrea edge out title holders St. Thomas’, while Colm Larkin’s late goal earned Tynagh-Abbey/Duniry a second chance in the Intermediate decider. They had looked likely winners for long periods until a typically determined Meelick/Eyrecourt up the ante with Noel Kenny’s green flag given them serious second-half momentum. Saturday’s replay promises to be another invigorating contest.