ALL-IRELAND CLUB HURLING SEMI-FINAL Portumna 5-11 Ballyhale Shamrocks 1-16:HOW MANY times does a match with this sort of pre-publicity deliver in such breathtaking fashion? Champions Portumna gave a complete performance to reach next month's AIB All-Ireland club hurling final: dazzling individualism set like diamonds in a 24-carat collective display.
Then there were also moments of impressive teamwork, instinctive flicks and taps to find the man in space and open up a scoring opportunity, as well as pure, stamina-draining hard work – as evident in the gilded attack as farther back where Micheál Ryan and Aiden Donnelly had massive matches in the half-back line.
Kilkenny champions Ballyhale will be disappointed by a challenge that never really picked up full speed but who in a crowd of 10,726 – or anyone remembering the reeling-in of Toomevara at this stage two years ago – could have felt that a team of that quality was ever fully out of the reckoning until the very end when there was actually not enough time to score the necessary total for a comeback.
In the battle of the icons Joe Canning, the young pretender, landed a point more than Henry Shefflin but there was no disputing who had the greater influence.
From the 45th-second free that he converted to open the scoring to the dying seconds when he popped up in defence to drive the penultimate clearance of the match, Canning provided a range of interventions that steered his team through the clear, blue water that ultimately separated the teams.
In a first half that combusted from the throw-in – there were 14 minutes gone and 3-6 scored before the first wide and that came from Henry Shefflin – the Galway champions had raced into an eight-point (2-2) lead within six minutes. In the fourth, Damien Hayes sliced in from the left corner, looked up, saw James Connolly slightly off his line and decided to go for goal.
A couple of minutes later Ciarán Ryan was flattened by Connolly when sizing up a goal chance and Canning drilled home the penalty. The most striking thing about Portumna’s game is its pace and relentlessness. At times the defensive effort resembled rugby foot-rushes, as players surged out to harry the man in possession and hurtled into loose ball until it could be picked and cleared.
As usual for the winners, Ollie Canning was the nerve centre of the defence, surviving an early scare when Colin Fennelly blocked him and created a goal chance that the defender himself recovered. His reading of the game was as erudite as ever and the ability to gather ball in dangerous situations and wriggle clear undimmed. Any time menacing high ball rained down on the defence, the red helmet was on the move covering behind in case of emergency.
But at this stage Ballyhale were impressive, reacting to the early adversity by settling down and taking a grip of a match that had been hurtling apparently beyond their grasp. Shefflin reacted to the danger by embarking on one of his powerful solo runs through the heart of the Portumna defence, drawing the cover and laying off a pass to Eoin Reid who took the goal well.
Their own work-rate rising insistently, the Kilkenny side pinned down their opponents and restricted them to two points in the middle third of the first half, trimming the margin to three and keeping it there.
The critical score of the first 30 minutes – and possibly the match – came from Joe Canning, who crept in on a ball toe-poked forward by Ciarán Ryan after he had lost possession on a solo. Canning somehow outreached full back Eamonn Walsh and flicked the ball one-handed into the net. That doubled the lead and, despite good scoring from Colin Fennelly and Maurice Aylward and clever play from TJ Reid, that remained the margin at half-time.
According to Damien Hayes, it was Portumna’s speed from the traps after half-time that won the match. In fact there had been some fencing up and down the field before the decisive thrusts but when they came – 2-1 in the space of three minutes against a solitary point from Ballyhale, hit by impressive sub David Hoyne – the contest’s complexion changed.
Firstly Damien Hayes finished a goal after his brother Niall’s effort had been blocked out by Connolly and then the former placed Canning neatly for his hat-trick opportunity. The ball came off the post and Canning set up the incoming Ciarán Ryan who netted. That established a clear, four-goal lead.
The potential for a Ballyhale comeback still haunted the ground and a run of six points, mostly Shefflin frees but including a nice sideline cut by TJ Reid, cut the margin to seven with about 10 minutes to go.
Once more Canning stepped up and from tight on the right-hand sideline he fired over a great, rallying point to extend the lead and break their opponents’ momentum. Ballyhale couldn’t regain that.
James Fitzpatrick was clearly off his best after a recent bout of mumps, as later confirmed by manager Maurice Aylward, and was shifted to full-forward to try to kick-start his game and his customary control and direction at centrefield was missed.
A final flourish of slick approach work yielded a chance for Kevin Hayes and he drove over the point with five minutes to go.
Shefflin managed two points but the efforts at pulling back the much-needed goal were curiously listless as the clock ticked down on this major collision, leaving unexpectedly convincing winners heading for St Patrick’s Day. They are likely to be unbackable favourites to become the third Galway club to record back-to-back All-Ireland victories.
PORTUMNA: I Canning; M Dolphin, E McEntee, O Canning (capt.); G Heagney, M Ryan, A Donnelly; E Lynch, L Smith (0-1); N Hayes (0-1), K Hayes (0-2), A Smith (0-1); D Hayes (2-1), J Canning (2-5, 1-0 penalty, 0-1 free, 0-1 lineball, 0-2 65s), C Ryan (1-0).
BALLYHALE SHAMROCKS: J Connolly; P Shefflin, E Walsh, P Holden; M Dermody, A Cummins, B Aylward (capt.); J Fitzpatrick, M Fennelly; C Fennelly (0-2), H Shefflin (0-10, seven frees, two 65s), TJ Reid (0-1, lineball); P Reid, E Reid (1-0), M Aylward (0-2). Subs: K Nolan for Dermody (half-time), D Hoyne (0-1)for P Reid (37 mins).
Referee: J Ryan(Tipperary).
