Canning and Webster gear up for showdown
He has three All Star awards in the left corner, as much as anyone has ever won there. He should have had at least one more and possibly two.
Today, at 31, retired from the county scene since the end of 2006, he still has pace to burn and is still more than capable of doing a job for Galway if and when he chooses to take up Ger Loughnane’s invitation to end his self-imposed exile.
A few weeks ago his club, Portumna, played Galway in a challenge in preparation for Sunday’s All-Ireland club semi-final against Munster champions Loughmore-Castleiney. According to many reports, Ollie was man-of-the-match in a Portumna win, prompting the call from Loughnane.
Canning downplays the significance of the win: “We were just concentrating on ourselves and we put in a decent performance and beat them. The Galway lads had done hard training that week. They had done a session beforehand — a 45 minute ball session I think — and that all adds up.”
Whatever about the county, the question for Portumna is this — do you play Ollie Canning in the corner in this game, a position in which any player can be bypassed, or do you play him further out the field where his pace, experience and ability will get far more opportunity of expression?
Evan Sweeney, for example, the Loughmore-Castleiney centre-forward, is no bigger than Ollie but he’s very pacey. So do you put Ollie back to his old club position of centre-back, the position from which he dominated as Portumna won their Galway senior titles, in 2003 and 2005, and All-Ireland title in 2006?
“I was centre-back in 2003 but I must be getting slow or something because they moved me back — maybe the next move will be to the sideline!
“I’m back in corner-back for the last couple of years and I’m comfortable there. I don’t try and do anyone else’s job. Keep things tight, tidy-up in the full-back line, trying to use my experience, that’s basically it.”
A certain Micheál Webster is one good reason to keep him in the corner. A sensation for Tipperary when he burst onto the inter-county scene a few years ago, the giant Webster will be at full-forward for Loughmore on Sunday, determined to wreak havoc and improve on his Munster championship form. Micheál is more renowned for his ball-winning ability than his finishing, which means that there are going to be a few balls breaking around the Portumna red-zone — cue Ollie Canning.
For Micheál, however, this game is all about opportunity. “The biggest day ever for me, and for everyone involved in the squad,” he says.
“I played in Munster finals but nothing compares to this, an All-Ireland semi-final with your home club, all your friends and lifelong team-mates. We’re a small parish, sparsely populated and well spread out. There are two small villages, one smaller than the other — I’m from Loughmore, the bigger one, and they say the hurlers come from there, but I’m not sure about that! There’s great friendship, great camaraderie in the community, everyone gets on. Anything that goes on, almost everyone is involved — it’s not like the big towns where there are so many distractions. In Loughmore-Castleiney it’s just GAA — I think we’re about the only parish in Tipperary that doesn’t have a soccer club.
“When we train in the local field now we’d have over 20 young lads there watching us — that’s good for the future.”
The odd thing about Loughmore-Castleiney, and about Micheál Webster, is this — even in a county where the small ball rules, football is very close to be being number one.
“I can’t separate them,” says Micheál, “I love them both equally. I played football first with Tipp but I’ve played both now at the highest level with Tipp and with Loughmore-Castleiney. I have won senior county titles at both, which is a good achievement in any county.
We did well in the football as well last year, we were beaten in the county quarter-final by Moyle Rovers who went on to win the county. We have 13 dual players which means it can be tough going, especially come August/September/October when you could be out every week in big championship matches. Our game against Moyle Rovers was only the week before the county hurling final. We had to regroup for that, regain our composure, get our heads around the fact that we were now in a different ball-game, in every sense.”
Well, now they’re in a different ball-game again. An All-Ireland semi-final is heady stuff for a side who surprised even themselves when the breakthrough came in Tipp. Riddled with injuries and five leading players out, a county title wasn’t on the horizon when they started out last year, much less a Munster crown. And now, this. Underdogs right through the final rounds of the Tipperary championship, underdogs even as they went into Munster, there are raised expectations now from Loughmore-Castleiney, raised expectations also from their big full-forward.
“Yeah, but no-one expects more of me than I expect of myself. The last couple of games, in Munster, I didn’t play as well as I can. I was probably better inside the county. I have to show the leadership now, win more ball, get a few scores and get the thing settled.
“A game of hurling can pass you by very quickly. If you’re not tuned in, in the first 15 minutes it can be all over. We were under pressure against Tulla (Munster final). That was a dog-fight but we dug deep, it was a case of whoever wanted it the most. A lot of people are saying this will be different, a very open game — I’m not so sure. It might be tight again.” Tight might suit Micheál just fine, but watch out for Ollie Cannning.
L/C 2-11 Erin’s Own (Cork) 0-14
L/C 1-15 Adare (Limerick) 1-10
L/C 1-6 Tulla (Clare) 0-7 (Munster final)
Average For: 1-12 Average Against: 0-12
Portumna (Galway) 6-23 James Stephens (Mayo) 0-7 (Connacht final)
How they fared in previous All-Ireland semi-finals
Portumna
2004: Dunloy (Antrim) 2-13 Portumna 2-10
2006: Portumna 2-17 James Stephens (Kilkenny) 0-11.
Loughmore-Castleiney
Appearing in the semi-final for the first time.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
