Coen and Keary hold key to Loughrea title hopes

Inside Track with John McIntyre

We have been here before. Four times previously, in fact, since 2002. So there is no shortage of history – or bad blood for that matter – between the clubs.

Portumna and Loughrea last met in local hurling’s showpiece event in 2009 and the general assumption over the following seasons was that a fifth big day collision involving the teams was hardly imminent.

Having contested seven consecutive finals and winning five of them, Portumna were the undoubted heavyweights of club hurling – a fact also underlined by three All-Ireland triumphs – during this time and though the breaks haven’t always been on their side since their last Galway success in 2009, there was also an increasing school of thought that the glory days might be behind them.

Four years ago, they trounced their old foes by 19 points in that county final and we all rushed to the conclusion that Loughrea were finished, but they have never lacked resilience and Sunday will be their third Galway decider to contest since then. It will be their seventh in total over the past 11 years and the club’s latest chance to improve on an appalling big day record at Pearse Stadium where they have lost five of their six previous final appearances.

That desperate record would test the resolve of even the most battle-hardened group of players, but Loughrea have never raised the white flag or subjected themselves to long periods of self-pity. Each new campaign brought fresh impetus and hope, but when they fell to St. Thomas’ in the county final 12 months ago, the morale of their longer serving soldiers probably hit an all-time low. Portumna were no longer the tormentors, but they had now been passed out by a new group of young, talented stickmen from St. Thomas’.

It was no wonder that their preparations for 2013 were slow to kick into gear; Enda McDonnell became a reluctant manager; and there was precious little evidence in an unremarkable but significantly unbeaten group campaign to suggest that Loughrea were much worse or better than in recent seasons. Consistency has been their forte, but those extra touches of class which separate the challengers from the champions appeared to be still beyond them.

Yet, I remember thinking during the opening 20 minutes of their group tie with Castlegar (I was involved with the city club this year), that there appeared to be an extra dimension to them in the current championship . . . more pace, more movement, especially in a youthful half forward line. Subsequently, they almost ran aground against Pearses in the quarter-finals, but the Ballymacward men can be notoriously obdurate opponents and, perhaps, Loughrea were also led astray by reports of Pearses’ poor form in challenge matches.

They may have staggered over the line, but Loughrea heeded the warning and cut a far more vigorous unit against Beagh in the semi-finals. There was a vibrancy and quality to their play which the outsiders couldn’t match with Neil Keary putting in another big performance up front, and Brian Mahony and young Sean Sweeney leading the way in defence. All through the field, there was a bounce in Loughrea’s play and there was no obvious sense that they remain haunted by past failures.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.