This year’s All-Ireland hurling club final on St Patrick’s Day will feature reigning champions Portumna of Galway and Waterford's De La Salle after they saw off the challenges of Ballyhale Shamrocks and Cushendall respectively in the semi-finals last weekend. The men from the west were particularly impressive when beating Kilkenny champions at a well attended game in Thurles.
They say a good start is half the battle, Portumna's explosive start to each half left the Shamrock boys always playing catch-up. Two goals in the first 10 minutes of each half was enough to shatter Ballyhale Shamrocks’ dream of regaining the title they won back in '07. This game had been billed as the battle of all battles, despite no silverware on offer last Sunday this showdown between two great sides of the modern era was seen by the general public to be a game to settle a few arguments as to which is the best club team. As a Kilkenny man it breaks my heart to declare the Portumna men victors in this department. They out-hurled, out-fought, and most importantly out-scored the Shamrock boys albeit through goals in a game that was as good as over after 40 minutes. At this stage Portumna had hit the Ballyhale men for 5, yes 5 times the green flag had been raised, now that must be a first for the Kilkenny champions.
Anyone unfortunate enough to miss the start of this epic encounter must have thought the man who manned the computerised score board had had one or two too many on Saturday night, 2-3 to 1-2 and only 10 minutes gone on the clock. Damien Hayes set the goal fest in motion when he lobbed the ball over Ballyhale keeper James Connolly, this was not the start that the Shamrocks had hoped for. The goal was far more valuable than the three points on the board, it meant that Portumna's tails were up and boy did they go for the jugular. Moments later Hayes again was instrumental when he dispossessed Eamon Walsh with a good old fashioned shoulder before collecting and setting sail for goal. His precise pass found the inrushing Ciarán Ryan, the corner forward's momentum carried him towards goal before Ballyhale’s keeper stopped his gallop, unfortunately for the Shamrocks it was illegally done. Connolly's high challenge would certainly warrant a straight red under the new rules, the resulting penalty was dispatched to the net by a young man who was to have a huge say in Portumna's quest for that all important final position. When entertainer Joe Dolan was alive and rocking there was a saying that 'there is no show like a Joe show'. Joe Dolan may have passed to his eternal rest but the baton has well and truly passed to the one and only Joe Canning, and boy can this youngster entertain us. His tricks, flicks, awareness, freetaking, lineball taking, and the bravery shown when diving full length to flick the ball past James Connolly for Portumna's third goal makes him the real deal who you could watch all day. He may only be 19 but already he has made some impression on the game, hurling is no different to any other sport, the game always needs idols or heroes for youngsters to look up to and Joe more than fits the bill. Like any sports, personal injury and complacency will have to be avoided.
Portumna may have had individual stars in the shape of Hayes and the Canning brothers Ollie and Joe, but they were backed up by a bunch of men who were willing to die for the cause. The Shamrocks never got into their stride, mainly due to Portumna applying the pressure game. I have no doubt that the Portumna manager Johnny Kelly approached this encounter with tactics that our county team have had so much success with in recent years... the pressure game. Jack Charlton's famous saying 'put them under pressure' was definitely a motto applied by the Portumna lads, they continuously crowded the Shamrocks around midfield, cutting off quality ball from the inside lines. There is no doubt these tactics will be the blueprint for every county manager hoping to dethrone Kilkenny this year, they will all attempt to beat Kilkenny at their own game.
The game was as good as over when Portumna struck for two early second half goals, in fairness to the Shamrocks they stuck at it and outscored the Galway men eight points to two in the last quarter but with Portumna players sitting so deep it was impossible to breach the cover for the goals that the Shamrocks needed to rescue this mission.
What went wrong for the Kilkenny champions of '08?
On the day they may not have enjoyed the best of luck, but there is no doubt on this occasion that they were individually and collectively out-hurled and disappointedly out-fought. I was very surprised that Cha wasn't employed as a sweeper behind the halfback line, especially in the opening 10-15 minutes when the pattern of most games is usually defined. Messrs Canning and Hayes are as good a full forward duo as you are likely to find in the country at present but they are no different to any forwards at any level. Forwards thrive on scores, if you can frustrate a forward early in the game you can sow the all important seeds of doubt, giving the deadly duo so much room meant they got the early goals that set them up for the day, they eventually amassed 4-6 between them. It looked like the Portumna backroom set-up studied the Shamrocks’ strengths and weaknesses a bit better than Shamrocks had studied Portumna's, eventually it was a combination of stronger work ethic and scoring power that won the day.
This Shamrocks’ team is far from finished, there is no doubt that they will regroup again, the hurt of losing this game will see to that, they will be odds on to land a fourth consecutive county title.
