Hurling’s Titans clash for place in county final

The two heavyweights of Galway hurling – reigning All-Ireland club holders St Thomas’ and three-time national champions Portumna – will collide in what should be an explosive county senior championship semi-final at Kenny Park, Athenry on Sunday.

While the preceding fixture between Beagh – appearing in their first ever SHC semi-final – and 2012 finalist’s Loughrea should not be found wanting, the clash of the titans of Galway hurling will undoubtedly ensure the turnstiles will be humming from early afternoon.

Of course, barring a quarter-final shock – which, given the close nature of those games, was a distinct possibility – St Thomas’ and Portumna were always destined to meet in the knockout stages with the victor – generally predicted – to go on and win the county championship.

There is a lot of hurling to be played before that happens but, certainly, the meeting of these two again, as it did earlier in the Summer, has caught hold of the imagination of Galway’s sporting public.

Elsewhere, the county championship minor ‘A’ hurling semi-finals takes place this Saturday, with Turloughmore facing Kilnadeema/Leitrim and Loughrea meeting Liam Mellows. Both games are on at Kenny Park, Athenry at 3pm and 4.30pm respectively.