Portumna top of the pile again

NINETEEN years after he was part of the first Portumna team to reach a county senior final, Ollie Canning, now 37, epitomises everything his remarkable club is about as he looks forward to the next campaign while savouring a fourth All-Ireland club title success at Croke Park.

The four time All-Star can remember the days when his club used to be called the ‘nearly men’, before their county final breakthrough success in 2003. Sitting in the dressing-room under the Cusack Stand, he sees no reason to hang up the boots when asked if he would be back in a yellow shirt for the first round clash with Castlegar next month.

He still loves his hurling, four years after retiring from the Galway set-up, and has already committed to another campaign with a group of players whose successes over the past decade have been nothing short of phenomenal.

The former corner back’s reinvention as a wing forward has transformed the club’s fortunes over the past year and led to Ollie producing what many observers felt was a Man of the Match performance on St Patrick’s Day.

“It’s been an unbelievable journey this year. We’ve had the same core group for the last ten years, but we’ve added in three or four fresh guys there in the last few years,” says the Portumna captain.

“We didn’t concentrate much on the fourth All-Ireland, we just wanted to concentrate on this game for its own value. The reward was winning the All-Ireland, but our sole concentration was on winning the match. It’s great to have held on to so many players, year in, year out. It’s a credit to the lads that are there. It’s a privilege for me to be hurling with them still.”

Ollie said Portumna were under no illusions, they knew it would be a difficult game. Mount Leinster Rangers had impressed through their provincial championship last month and beat the All-Ireland champions of 2012 last month.

“We went in four points up at half-time and we were happy just to keep the scoreboard ticking over. The goal we were looking for didn’t come, but that’s a credit to Mount Leinster Rangers. They are a good team. We were under no illusions today, we knew it was going to be a difficult game,” he says.

“At half-time we were happy enough with our performance, but we knew that there was probably a bit more work in us. We knew if we kept the scoreboard ticking over and didn’t concede any goals that we were in with a great chance.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.