Great days in store for Galway sides
The Galway clubs saw Newtowshandrum and St Gall’s off in the AIB All-Ireland club hurling and football finals at Croke Park.
Red Is The Rose was sung from the winner’s podium, but maroon was definitely the colour.
The hurling final will be remembered chiefly for the arrival at senior level of Joe Canning, a forward so threatening he deserves to have ominous theme music strike up when he approaches the ball. An elemental force at minor, he wasn’t long announcing himself yesterday: two minutes had gone when he took the ball in traffic and saw the chance of a goal.
“When I saw the space I said ‘I’ll have a pot’,” he said afterward. “I was lucky enough, it just went inside the post.”
As Mae West would say, luck had nothing to do with it. That was plain five minutes later when the youngster was bottled up on the end line but picked out his full-forward with a luscious assist.
“I heard Niall screaming inside me,” said Canning. “I just hit the ball in more in hope than anything, and luckily he was there to tap it in.”
Portumna had two goals scored before Newtown got out of the traps and looked good, but the north Cork side settled. Cathal Naughton’s two points gave them a bridgehead, and Jerry O’Connor tore through the Galway side’s defence for a terrific goal. At half-time Newtown were three points behind, but surely their well-tuned running game would see them home after the break.
However, Portumna’s game plan in the second half worked better. Joe Canning stayed in around the house, and with Damien and Niall Hayes further out the field Newtown couldn’t go through the gears.
Joe Canning, who finished with 1-6, said: “It’s a great day for the club, our first All-Ireland, we might never get back here again. Everything worked out as planned.”
The game ended in frustration for Newtown, with Pat Mulcahy seeing red, while Portumna’s first family of hurling had a better return from their visit to Croke Park last September for the Cork-Galway hurling final. On that occasion Sean Canning took ill and was taken to hospital; this time he was on hand to greet his youngest son after the game.
“I just met him out on the field,” said Joe Canning. “The win is nearly more important for him than it is for us. He lives for his hurling.”
IF that win helped Portumna to forget the past, the football game was often a war of attrition. The wind did neither Salthill-Knocknacarra nor St Gall’s any favours, and it was seven minutes before the first score.
The Three Ages of the Intercounty Forward (just-retired Maurice Sheridan, veteran Michael Donnellan and young turk Sean Armstrong) showed enough class to edge Salthill in front, but the physical strength of Kevin McGourty, Mark McCrory and Ciaran McCrossan kept St Gall’s in contention. However, twice before half-time the northerners played conservatively, taking points when there was a sniff of goal.
After the break, Salthill defended resolutely, and hit St Gall’s on the counter-attack. The northerners had defended in numbers to beat Nemo Rangers in the semi-final, but it looked like the western side had learned that lesson. They were aided by some poor shot selection from the Antrim club’s forwards and an off-day for Sean Burns, but the game still augured in to a close finish thanks to Conor McGourty’s late pointed free. Salthill defended resolutely, none more so than their man-of-the-match full-back, Finian Hanley.
“We had to hang on a small bit,” he said.
“They’re a great side, they showed that, they’ve beaten great teams all year. Even when we were seven-four up it was still tricky, a goal and a point is nothing in an All-Ireland final.”
What counts in an All-Ireland final is experience. Crucially, Maurice Sheridan won a late, late kick-out, and Michael Donnellan stopped the last St Gall’s attack.
“Look, Michael’s been there before, so has Maurice,” said Hanley. “The ball Michael won at the very end was the greatest ball I’ve ever seen won in Croke Park, though I’m not around that long.”
Between Hanley in football and Canning in hurling, Galway will see great days yet.
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