MAN-OF-THE-MATCH Damien Hayes agreed that while a fifth county title for Portumna – and a fifth medal for him – had been very rewarding, beating Loughrea in yesterday’s Galway hurling decider in Pearse Stadium had been extra special because of what happened three years ago against them in the final.

THE fallout from their controversial meeting in the decider three years ago has finally been consigned to history after Portumna and Loughrea played out a game in Pearse Stadium yesterday that was relatively incident-free – apart from the issuing of one red card.