Inside Track
Portumna let All-Ireland Club champions off the hook
Inside Track with John McIntyre
SINCE the club’s last of five senior hurling title triumphs in 2009, Portumna could be forgiven for thinking that fate is conspiring against them in their efforts to chalk up the half-dozen of championship successes.
A combination of injuries, suspensions and some bad luck has thwarted their efforts to even reach another county final in the interim, but they still appeared the team to beat in 2013.
A first round group win over reigning All-Ireland champions St. Thomas’ certainly laid down a marker for the rest of the campaign, but Portumna are no longer bullet proof like they were when in their prime. They subsequently carelessly lost to Clarinbridge and also flirted with a shock defeat to an admittedly much-improved Ardrahan outfit in the recent quarter-final.
Advancing years is clearly catching up on some of Portumna’s great servants, but there remains an aura about them and the vast majority of other clubs around the county would still be less intimidated at the prospect of facing St. Thomas’ than Ollie Canning and company. Their movement and link up play can still be exceptional, but the team’s defence lacks the overall security of a few years ago even if the Portumna forwards remain nearly as menacing as ever.
Portumna were the better team in the second of last Sunday’s county semi-finals and when Andy Smith sent over a glorious effort from the left wing to put them six clear in the final quarter at Kenny Park, they looked to have the hard work done. Joe Canning had started to cut loose around midfield and it was difficult to see how an injury-hit St. Thomas’ were going to salvage a result, even if young Eanna Burke’s probings were just about keeping them in the hunt.
In the end, an opportunist flicked goal from substitute Richie Murray and an injury time pointed free from the impressive Conor Cooney somehow got the champions out of jail, but even neutrals felt that Portumna were hard done by as referee Alan Kelly controversially penalised Gareth Heagney for overcarrying in the dying embers of a struggle which rarely produced the fire and brimstone exchanges many had anticipated.
From my vantage point on the terrace directly across from the incident, it was impossible to justify Kelly’s harsh call while his failure to award Damien Hayes and Ollie Canning second-half frees when they appeared illegally challenged were also bones of contention, but St. Thomas’ will have their own gripes as well with Anthony Kelly arguably unfairly pulled up for holding onto the ball in the opening half . . . it’s just that Portumna were more sinned against in this regard.
For all that, Kelly awarded the challengers ten scoreable frees, eight of which were converted by Canning, and Portumna can’t ignore the fact either that they failed to close out a game in which they were in control of heading down the home stretch. And substantial credit must also go to St. Thomas’ for battling to a replay when their cause seemed lost. They didn’t panic and though most of the swashbuckling hurling came from their rivals, Eanna Burke and Cooney still managed to pick off some quality points when most needed.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
SOMETHING very odd happened to Tyrone in the Ulster championship in early April. On their home turf of Healy Park, they were doing nearly everything expected of them when leading Monaghan by five points at half-time. You couldn’t say for definite that the match was done and dusted, but the 2021 All-Ireland champions were in pole position.
You would have expected them to drive on against an honest if limited Monaghan outfit. Instead, Tyrone didn’t score for the opening 16 minutes of the second-half and in an enthralling finale, were left stunned by defender Ryan’s Toole’s stoppage-time goal snatching the honours for the Farney men on a 2-17 to 1-18 scoreline.
A couple of weeks later, Monaghan themselves had exited the Ulster title race when Derry comfortably got the better of them (1-21 to 2-10), leaving us more puzzled than ever by Tyrone’s dramatic decline since overcoming Mayo to claim Sam barely 20 months previously. Last year, they crashed out of Ulster by 11 points to Derry and subsequently came up six short against Armagh in the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Against that background, their recent loss to Monaghan shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but it did. Tyrone may have made a shambolic defence of the All-Ireland title, but there is still a lot of quality in their ranks. They have an adventurous ‘keeper in Niall Morgan, while the long-serving Peter Harte, Darragh Canavan, Darren McCurry, Cathal McShane, Conor Meyler, Mattie Donnelly, and Conn Kilpatrick are all top-class performers when in the mood.
There’s hardly been a word about them for the past six weeks. Tyrone are lying low, desperately trying to rediscover the verve and cohesion which took them all the way in 2021. Their pride is on the line. It makes them dangerous opponents for Galway in the opening round of All-Ireland group matches at Pearse Stadium on Saturday.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Inside Track with John McIntyre
GALWAY footballers won’t get much credit for their easy victory over Sligo in Sunday’s Connacht Final in Castlebar, but when a team achieves something that hasn’t been done for 20 years, perhaps we should be a little more appreciative of the Tribesmen retaining the JJ Nestor Cup for the first time in two decades.
To be honest, if Galway were to live up to their standing as serious All-Ireland contenders, they needed to be doing a number on Sligo. In this year’s National League, the counties were three divisions apart and though Tony McEntee’s team achieved promotion and were on a nine-match unbeaten run, a serious rise in class faced them at MacHale Park.
Granted, Sligo made a bright start with three points in the opening five minutes from Pat Spillane, Sean Carrabine and the accurate Darragh Cummins, but they would only manage two more by the break despite having the wind behind them. Though wing back Luke Towey was catching the eye with his runs up-field, Galway rarely looked under pressure.
Sligo were bravely committing numbers to the middle third, which meant they were a little light in numbers around their own posts. They couldn’t afford to lose possession coming out of their own half, but that’s what happened in the build up to Galway’s second goal. Damien Comer overturned Cian Lally and from his counter-attack, Matthew Tierney expertly finished to the net at the near post.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
IS the Leinster hurling championship something of a sham compared to its Munster counterpart? Everybody knows who will end up in the provincial final in the east, but nobody knows the two teams who will feature in the ultimate battle for supremacy down south.
All-Ireland champions Limerick aren’t guaranteed to even make it out of the province, never mind reach the Munster final, after their narrow loss to Clare in Saturday evening’s epic at the Gaelic Grounds. Everything is still on the line for the five counties involved, although Waterford are again under serious pressure after losing their opening two matches.
In Leinster, there is little of that drama. Galway and Kilkenny are miles ahead of the rest; the only thing at stake is whether Dublin or Wexford – they meet in Croke Park on Saturday – will be the third team to emerge for the All-Ireland series. It’s a game which is hard to call. Wexford are going backwards while Dublin look callow as Micheál Donoghue is trying to build the nucleus of a new team.
Though Antrim are improving – they held the Dubs to a draw and only lost to Wexford by four points – the men from the Glens would be out of their depth in Munster; while Westmeath are proving cannon-fodder for everyone else. Since Galway headed east in 2009, they have clashed with Kilkenny in seven Leinster finals and another showdown is inevitable next month.
In contrast, every match in Munster is virtually do-or die. When Clare rolled into Limerick last Saturday, they knew another defeat after losing to Tipperary in the opening round would leave them on the precipice of exiting the championship. There’s a real dog-eat-dog appeal about all the games. In Leinster, there are two big hounds, and the rest are chihuahuas.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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