Portumna rage against time to preserve senior A status

PORTUMNA 0-21

GORT 2-14

Mark Walsh in Loughrea

LESS than five years ago, Portumna and Gort contested a county final on a cold December’s day in Athenry. Gort dethroned the then Galway and All-Ireland champions, but on Saturday in Loughrea, two late Joe Canning points won the day for Portumna and secured their status as a Senior A side for 2020.

As well as that 2014 final, these clubs faced off in the 2008 decider, a game that was won by Portumna, on their way to a second All-Ireland title. The passage of time means that few things stay the same, and while it didn’t come as much surprise to see the club from the banks of the river Shannon were in this relegation play-off, at the start of 2019 Gort were expected to be in the mix at the business end of proceedings.

Three narrow losses in succession in Group 2 of Senior A – to Cappataggle, Sarsfields and Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry – left Gort facing into this play-off at the weekend. Despite the tight nature of the game, at no stage would you have said that Gort were actually motoring that well. By contrast, this was Portumna’s best performance of their 2019 SHC campaign.

That’s probably an easy summation to make, given that they had lost all five of their Group 1 fixtures, but it was a thrill to see some of their more experienced, leading servants, fight against the dying of the light. Ollie Canning, at 43, scored two points, had a fine game from wing-forward, and linked up with Damien Hayes on a couple of occasions.

While it’s unclear as of yet whether Ollie will come back for 2020, Saturday’s game represented Damien Hayes’ last in Portumna colours. Aged 37, Hayes leaves an indelible mark on not just his club, but on the county club scene overall. He has six county medals in his back pocket, allied to four All-Ireland club medals, and three All-Stars from his time in maroon. A fair haul by any standard.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.