Portumna camp keenly aware of Ballyhale threat

Date Published: {J}

STEPHEN GLENNON

THE reigning All-Ireland club champions may have some of the best forwards in the country, but Portumna duo Peter Smith and Ollie Canning acknowledge that their St. Patrick’s Day opponents, Ballyhale Shamrocks, possess an equalling devastating force.

But if you are looking for a hint of fear in either Smith’s or Canning’s eyes, you won’t find it. A miniscule of anger maybe- every great team needs a little rage – but certainly not fear. That was borne out when the two sides met in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final and the Galway champions dissected a favoured Ballyhale side with surgical precision.

“I have been hearing that Ballyhale really fancy themselves,” says Army Officer Smith, “but that doesn’t bother us. We keep our own counsel.

“Ballyhale, no doubt, are a fantastic side; all you have to do is just look at the team on paper. They have county players and All-Stars throughout the team and we are just glad to be in with a chance to contest the final against them. We know we will have to play at our best if we are going to beat them.”

Certainly, the left half-back is a player who seems to be relishing these heady days in the primrose and gold of Portumna. “Sure, a lot of people say it is hard to stay training all year round, but that is what we want to be doing,” smiles the 26-year-old. “It is not really a sacrifice when you get to this stage [of the competition] and you know what you are playing for. To get to a third All-Ireland in a row is a great feat.”

Still, maintaining that insatiable appetite and to continually and consistently deliver top-notch performances in the knockout stages of both the county and All-Ireland series has to sap players, both physically and mentally.

Once again, Smith rebukes this misconception. “My own opinion is that this [burning ambition] comes from the fact that we are such a close club. We really are a very close bunch of lads. We grew up together while the core of this present team comes from two minor sides back in the late 90s. Then, you have mixed in the likes of (Eugene) McEntee and Ollie (Canning), the senior heads there, and a couple of the younger lads like Martin Dolphin and Joe Canning coming through. Every year when we get together, we just want to keep the roll we are on going for as long as we can.”

Indeed, unbeaten in championship action since 2006, the Tommy Moore holders must now lay their distinguished record on the line against a side that only has revenge on the mind. For Portumna, it poses a conundrum. Do they embrace the same game plan which inflicted a 5-11 to 1-16 defeat on their Kilkenny rivals in Spring of 2009? Or do they adopt a different approach?

Smith has his own theory. “Ah look it,” he says. “I am a fairly simple fellow. I look at it if you beat your man, and the 14 other players do the same in their position on the field, well … that’s my game plan. We will leave the mind games up to everyone else. I think if we just work hard and play our intensity game, like we know we can, and we put them under pressure where we know

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.