De La Salle haven’t met a team like this before
Of the three, he was most confident about Portumna doing the business again. If I were him, I wouldn’t be that sure.
I was involved with Garryspillane in Limerick a few years ago and we played De La Salle in a challenge in Waterford. At that time, De La Salle’s only ambition was to win their own senior championship. That was about four years ago – how far they’ve come since then!
But I could sense at the time that they were going to achieve that ambition. They had a very good setup down there, on and off the pitch, men of vision and ambition at the top, a lot of very good young players coming through on the field. Kevin Moran was still only around minor grade but I was impressed with him then, and he wasn’t alone. What their achievement over the last year goes to show is that if you have the right people at the top – in club or county – and the right people in charge of teams, you will succeed.
De La Salle have operated under the shadow of Mount Sion in Waterford city for decades, and their emergence hasn’t been by accident – it was planned. Maybe not this far but everything they’ve got on this journey, they’ve deserved and earned.
And they’ve had a few slices of luck, but then you get nowhere without it. The Munster final was a case in point. The were held scoreless for the first half against Adare. The Limerick champions should have been out of sight at the break, but the De La Salle defence kept the Waterford champions in that game, and Moran was absolutely brilliant. What impressed me though was this – De La Salle were not going well, you could see they were struggling to come to grips with the game, but they kept at it and at it, they never dropped the heads, never gave up. In the second half of that game, they were a different team, and in the end, deserved their win.
For that, you have to give great credit to the players, but you also have to credit the management, led by Eoin Dunphy. He was playing up to a few years ago but wasn’t afraid or slow to make changes in that game. And of course there’s a Kilkennyman in the background also, one of the Fennelly clan, as shrewd as they come – I’m sure Brendan Fennelly is an important voice in that De La Salle dressing-room.
You often look at county lads playing with their clubs, and often they disappoint. You can’t say that about the big three with De La Salle. Moran is a tower of strength at centre-back, the Bull Phelan is magnificent in midfield, a real driver who got the big scores against Cushendall in the semi-final, and of course there’s John Mullane up front.
John has been fantastic, a real leader who led the charge against Adare in that second half comeback. They’re not alone though, and in this game today De La Salle are going to need defenders, 14 defenders, everyone totally committed to closing down their man. Against this Portumna team, they’re facing a tsunami, wave after wave of attack sweeping down field, across the whole width of Croke Park.
Which brings me to the Galway and All-Ireland champions. In their semi-final win over Ballyhale Shamrocks, there wasn’t a single obvious weak link, in any line.
And I know they have brilliant individuals, the likes of the Cannings, the Hayes brothers, but everyone was fully tuned in that day, from goalie to corner-forward. Tactically also they were spot on, crowding out Ballyhale where they needed to be crowded while midfielders Eoin Lynch and Leo Smith were magnificent.
In every code people talk about the leaders of the pack; you look at this Portumna defence, and even though he’s back in the corner, Ollie Canning is the man.
Where the opposition are most dangerous, where they have the greatest threat, there you’ll find Ollie, which is why I expect to see him take up Mullane today.
Then you go up front: Joe Canning is terrific, but funnily enough, I think Damien Hayes is the spark and plays better for Portumna than he ever did for Galway.
He’s everywhere, buzzing around the place, using his pace to set things up. Joe too is a great provider with uncanny vision, and both are top class finishers. Niall Hayes is another pacey player, very accurate, and of course there’s the centre-forward, Chunky Hayes, a good man to have in any attack.
People tend to overlook the other two, Ciarán Ryan and Andrew Smith – that’s a major mistake, because those two will punish you too. Most impressive about this team, however is their work ethic. De La Salle have earned themselves a reputation as never-say-die, but Portumna are the same, they never stop, never give up.
Talent is one thing, but without work ethic it is worthless.
Who’s going to win? Will my friend collect on the second part of his treble? Portumna are an exceptional team with a magnificent record in finals. They would test any county team. The way De La Salle are going into it probably suits the Waterford champions, complete underdogs, and they’ll give it a go. They’ve done superbly to beat the Cork champions in Cork, the Limerick champions in Semple Stadium, Cushendall in Dublin. But, they haven’t met a team like they’re meeting this afternoon — I can’t see past Portumna.
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