Old foes Portumna and Loughrea to renew rivalry in county quarter-final

ALL-Ireland club champions Portumna and their great rivals Loughrea will lock horns in this year’s Galway senior hurling quarter-finals after the sides were pitted against each other following the championship draw on Sunday evening.

Given the history between these two since their first county final meeting in 2003 – incredibly, they have faced each other in five deciders in the last 12 years – this hugely anticipated contest, as early as it is for both of them in the competition, could be another defining chapter in their history.

Of course, these two teams contested last year’s showcase, with Portumna emerging victorious on a 3-12 to 0-14 scoreline. One of the highlights was a man of the match performance from Andy Smith, who finished with a personal tally of 1-4 from play.

However, on this occasion, it looks as if Smith could miss this mouthwatering re-match after he suffered the recurrence of a knee injury (medial ligament) – that has plagued him in this championship – in the holders’ 2-17 to 1-13 victory over Athenry in their group game on Saturday.

For their part, Loughrea enjoyed a 0-24 to 1-10 victory over a Mullagh side, who were out of the championship running heading into this fixture, on the same evening, with the towering Johnny Maher hitting 11 points, eight from placed balls, in the win.

The remaining quarter-final ties – all of which take place on the weekend of September 27-28 – sees Gort take on Killimordaly, Ardrahan meet Turloughmore and Craughwell face Tommy Larkins.

Gort, already qualified for the knockout stages, returned from a training weekend to record an expected ‘Group B’ win on a scoreline of 0-25 to 1-8 scoreline over last year’s intermediate champions Kilnadeema /Leitrim, who were out of the championship after losing their opening two games.

The other Group ‘B’ clash between Tommy Larkins and Clarinbridge saw the Woodford/Ballinakill side emerge victorious by 0-22 to 0-20. This secured Larkins a quarter-final berth against Craughwell, who were 3-18 to 0-19 winners over 14-man Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry.

The second qualification spot in Group ‘C’ was grasped by Turloughmore after they defeated Beagh – suffering only their first championship loss this year – by 1-19 to 0-16 on Sunday. Turloughmore now take on Ardrahan – 4-20 to 0-9 winners over Carnmore – in what is another intriguing fixture.

Arguably, the result of the weekend though was Killimordaly’s derby victory over Sarsfields. Adrift by 0-10 to 0-8 at the interval, Tomás Broderick’s side produced a stirring second half display to take the honours, 0-22 to 1-16. They now face Gort in the quarter-finals.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.