Portumna power to sixth title with ease

Hayes, unmarked, blasted the sliotar to the net from close range, following good work by Niall and Kevin Hayes, to open up a seven point lead which proved to be beyond a bitterly disappointed Loughrea side with 48 minutes on the clock.

Loughrea, backed by the strong breeze, had no answer to their battle-hardened rivals who have now beaten them in four senior hurling finals since 2003.

The beaten finalists had a greater spread of scorers throughout the first period, but were rocked by first half goals from Joe Canning, a free, and Man of the Match Andy Smith, who ended the contest with 1-4.

Canning blasted a 20 metre free to the net to give the favourites a 1-2 to 0-1 lead and, despite a spirited fight-back from Enda McDonnell’s side, they were back in front when Smith unleashed a brilliant strike to the net nine minutes before half-time.

The teams were deadlocked at 0-11 to 2-5 at the break, with all six of the Loughrea forwards having found the target, but a vastly experienced Portumna side calmly set about putting scores on the board when they had the backing of the wind in the second period.

Points from Joe Canning (two frees), Ollie Canning, and Andy Smith saw the favourites open up a four point lead early in the second half, but it was only when Hayes found the net that they looked to be on their way to a sixth county title.

The untimely death of Galway hurler Niall Donoghue had provided a sombre backdrop to the contest, which had been postponed by 24-hours as a mark of respect to the Kilbeacanty man, and a fitting minute’s silence was observed by the 9,262 strong crowd.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.