Richmond: Dunloy far from no-hopers

WHO would envy Paddy Richmond this Sunday as his club, Dunloy Cuchullains, take on reigning champions Portumna in the All-Ireland club hurling semi-final, in Dublin’s Parnell Park?

Three times All-Ireland champions in the last four years, going for three-in-a-row, with the likes of the Canning brothers and the Hayes brothers and cousins in their ranks, Portumna are now accepted as the benchmark for all hurling clubs, a powerhouse to rank with any of the great teams that have gone before.

“Yeah, they definitely are,” Paddy acknowledged this week, as he accepted his award as the AIB Provincial club hurler of the championship in Ulster. “They’ve proved it over the last five or six years, they are the club for all teams to catch.