Portumna lose senior status in Galway as Loughrea on course to retain title
Joe Canning who's Portumna side needed to win the Senior B grade this year to get back into the top flight. File pic: INPHO/James Crombie
Champions Loughrea are back on course in their attempt to retain their Galway SHC title after ousting Moycullen by 4-15 to 0-13 in a preliminary quarter-final. They will now meet another of the title favourites Clarinbridge in the last eight after a weekend of action which confirmed that four-time All-Ireland champions Portumna will be in the intermediate grade next year.
Loughrea, who won their third Galway title when they defeated neighbours Cappataggle last year, were forced to go the longer route after losing in another derby clash in their final pool match against Craughwell.
But a flurry of goals in the opening 21 minutes propelled them to a 4-15 to 0-13 win over Moycullen with Darren Shaughnessy getting two goals and Vince Morgan and Martin McManus also finding the net.
Darren Murphy shot 0-7 for Sarsfields as they edged out Castlegar by 1-31 to 2-24 after 42-year-old former All Star Ger Farragher forced extra-time with his 11th point in the fifth minute of injury-time in their preliminary quarter-final.
Sarsfields will now meet Craughwell in the semi-finals, while Tommie Larkins, with goals from Conor Gardiner and Conor Slattery, scored an impressive 2-22 to 2-11 win over Athenry to set up a last eight showdown with a St Thomas’ side whose quest for seven titles in a row was ended at the semi-final stage by Cappataggle last year.
Turloughmore, searching for their first title since 1985 and who were runners-up in 2020 and 2023, were also impressive winners as they ousted Killimordaly by 1-17 to 1-10 with Barry Callinan shooting 1-2 to set up a quarter-final date with Oranmore/Maree.
Meanwhile, former All-Ireland club champions Portumna have lost their senior status in a restructuring of the Galway championship which will come into effect in 2026. Portumna, winners of six Galway senior titles and four All-Ireland club crowns since they were promoted from intermediate in 1992, have been operating in the second tier Senior B championship since they were relegated in 2020.
That grade is being scrapped for next year and a new 16-team Premier Intermediate Championship will commence. Portumna, beaten in the Senior B final last year by three-time All-Ireland champions Athenry, needed to win that grade this year to get back into the top flight.
But on Saturday, even with Joe Canning making a big impact, they lost to Ballinderreen by 0-24 to 2-14 at the quarter-final stage in the Senior B title race and only the winners of that competition will be promoted.
Oranmore/Maree v Turloughmore; Tommie Larkins v St Thomas’; Sarsfields v Craughwell; Loughrea v Clarinbridge.
