Old foes: new battle
NO other team in Galway hurling has come anywhere near matching the consistency of Portumna and Loughrea in the modern era. It’s a remarkable tribute to their staying power at the top that Sunday’s Salthill Hotel senior hurling title decider is their fifth county final meeting in 11 seasons.
Others – Gort, Clarinbridge, and most recently St Thomas’ – have come and plundered Galway hurling’s biggest prize on a one-off basis, with two of those even going on to win All-Irelands, since these two teams first met in a Pearse Stadium decider back in 2003.
But none have come anywhere matching the consistency of these two sides. Portumna, arguably the greatest club team in history at their peak four or five years ago, have won five Galway titles and three All-Irelands since Ollie Canning captained them to their first title, a 2-13 to 2-9 victory over Loughrea that historic November afternoon.
Loughrea might not have won as much as their sometimes bitter rivals, but their seventh county final appearance in 11 years is a tribute to the remarkable endurance of Johnny O’Loughlin, Vinnie Maher, Johnny Maher, Tom Regan, Damien McClearn, Kenneth Colleran, Brian Mahony, and Nigel Murray – players who are still fighting for the Town’s cause after all these years.
It’s a source of pain that they have won only one of those six finals – the controversial 2006 victory over Portumna, after they overcame an eight point deficit at half-time – but their ability to bounce back, year after year, sets them apart as a remarkable group of players.
Their litany of county final disappointments includes bringing Clarinbridge to a replay in 2010, before losing by just two points, and a narrow 3-11 to 2-11 defeat to the newcomers from St Thomas’ – after a spirited late comeback – last year.
But it’s Portumna who have caused the most hurt of all . . . ruining their hopes of a first title success since 1941 back in ’03, watching Joe Canning and Damien Hayes score 3-17 between them in a seven point defeat in ’05, and suffering an unmerciful 19-point hiding when they last met in a decider four years ago.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.