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.