Quinlan Portumna’s ace

PAT QUINLAN has suffered many disappointments in his 14 years representing Portumna in various inter-club competitions, so it was all the sweeter for the man from Ballinderry in North Tipperary that he should clinch their first Bulmers Irish Junior Cup triumph at Castlebar yesterday.

Portumna added the Junior Cup to the Irish Mixed Foursomes title they captured 12 months ago, when Quinlan also played a lead role. After father and son John and Sean Cleary both won, Quinlan made sure for the Co Galway club when he hit a tremendous four iron to ten feet at the difficult par three 16th to see off David Prendergast of Naas in the fifth and final match.

“This means an awful lot to me,” said Quinlan. “I was dropped for the Connacht final and while it came as a bit of a shock, it made me work harder and made me a better player.”