Portumna under pressure but far from finished

Date Published: {J}

THE general consensus after last Sunday’s Galway senior hurling semi-finals is that Portumna, the team which has dominated the local scene for nearly the guts of a decade, is slipping. Given that the champions had to rely on a controversial injury time free to earn a replay against bitter rivals Loughrea, it is no surprise that so many neutrals have jumped to that conclusion.

In front of a massive attendance at Kenny Park, Portumna came within seconds of losing for the first time in a Galway championship game outside of county finals since surrendering a big lead against Sarsfields in the 2002 semi-final. They have been in a class of their own for most of the intervening period, routinely running up big winning margins on their way to seven consecutive final appearances and five title triumphs.

That is remarkable consistency and though Portumna failed in their bid to achieve an historic hat-trick of All-Ireland Club titles last March, few anticipated that their stranglehold on the Galway championship would come under serious threat in 2010. Michael Duignan was brought on board as team coach to help freshen things up and when they recently inflicted a ten points defeat on Mullagh in this year’s quarter-final, the remaining clubs left in contention must have sighed with resignation.

Yet, on closer examination, Portumna’s display against Mullagh was a long way short of their vintage best. Despite a lot of possession and territory, the challengers were undone by the concession of three giveaway early goals with the result that the title holders didn’t have to empty the locker in order to carry the day. On reflection, we go no real clue about what Portumna had left in the tank given Mullagh’s self-destruction even if the assumption remained there was nothing to touch them in Galway.

Well, they theory was blown out of the water at Kenny Park in a semi-final which appeared to be just one bad stroke away from exploding. There was unbelievable tension in the air and with a succession of minor scuffles, yellow cards and bad temper peppering the fixture, referee Eoin Shaughnessy had his hands full in controlling a game which fell well short of expectations notwithstanding the finish of high drama.

It was stop-start match, marred by a high foul count and some woeful inaccuracy – both teams hit 11 wides – but Portumna were always holding the edge until almost out of nothing, Loughrea came desperately close to achieving a sensational victory with final quarter goals from Johnny Coen (free) and substitute Kenneth Colleran, a fine individual effort, turning the game completely on its head.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.