It finished 5-11 to 1-16 in Portumna’s favor, and goals made the difference as the reigning champions booked their place once again in the St Patrick’s Day decider. With the wondrous Joe Canning hitting 2-5 and Damien Hayes 2-1, the winners were effectively home and dry by the 40th minute at which stage they led by 5-9 to 1-8.
Stung by the possibility of a hugely embarrassing loss, Ballyhale finished strongly with eight points to put a semblance of respectability on the scoreboard, however, they simply found it hard to live with the prodigious talents of Canning.
From the start to the finish, he was thorn in their side demonstrating a breathtaking array of skills. Canning also came out on top in his match-within-a-match against Henry Shefflin who still managed to score 0-10 including nine points from placed balls.
“I’m not going to pick out any individuals because for me, Joe Canning was not the man who beat us,” said Ballyhale manager, Maurice Aylward. “It was their overall team from their goalkeeper right through. They had their homework done and they were up for the game. Joe’s an outstanding talent, but there are other outstanding talents in that squad. You don’t win anything with a one-man team.”
Although Ballyhale will be disappointed with their performance, Portumna began at lightning speed as Hayes and Joe Canning from the penalty spot struck for early goals. Eoin Reid responded with a goal for the Leinster champions, but with Ollie Canning controlling the defense superbly and with his younger brother adding his second goal, Portumna were in front by 3-7 to 1-7 at the break.
Further goals from Hayes and Ciaran Ryan early in the second half made the game safe despite Shefflin’s best efforts. “We won’t get carried away, we’ve another step to take to retain the title,” said Portumna manager, Johnny Kelly. “Take it for what it is, an All Ireland semi-final. We know we have serious pace and we’ve got talented hurlers, so we’ll endeavor to make that pay again.”
Portumna’s final opponents will be De La Salle of Waterford who edged out Antrim’s Cushendall by 1-21 to 1-19 after extra-time at Parnell Park. Cushendall looked to have secured victory when they led by two points with just three minutes of normal time remaining, but De La Salle dragged themselves off the floor to send the game into extra-time.
Then it was their talisman, John Mullane, who popped up to score the critical last point to send his team into the decider. “We seemed to have the edge on the Cushendall lads in extra-time,” explained Mullane. “This is just a dream come true. We weren’t even contenders to win our county title last year and now here we are on the 125th anniversary of the GAA playing in Croke Park on St Patrick’s Day.”
Cushendall were on level terms, 1-6 to 0-9, at the interval, but they were soon on the back foot when Declan McKillop was harshly sent off by referee Eamonn Morris for a second yellow card offense. Stephen Daniels reduced the gap to just a single point in the dying seconds, however, it seemed after a frustrating run of losing semi-finals, Cushendall would at last hold out.
Amid high tension, De La Salle were awarded a sideline ball out on the right and in what was a superb response to the pressure, Brian Phelan fired his shot majestically between posts to send the contest into extra-time.
The additional 20 minutes saw plenty of tired bodies and some slack marking, but increasingly, Mullane came into the game and it was De La Salle’s inter-county star who hit that vital final point.
On the football front, Kilmacud Crokes of Dublin secured their place in the All Ireland club final with an impressive 2-11 to 0-11 victory over Galway’s Corofin in Mullingar.
In the 2006 semi-final against another Galway club, Salthill-Knocknacarra, Mark Vaughan had been sent off, but this time he emerged as Crokes’ kingpin scoring a match-winning 1-6, including four frees.
Just when Corofin drew level in a tense second half, Vaughan struck for 1-2 in the final 10 minutes to book his team’s passage to the decider where they’ll meet Crossmaglen Rangers in what should be another mouth-watering encounter.
Shackled with the favorites’ burden, Armagh’s Crossmaglen made no mistake in their semi-final in Longford, easily defeating Drom-Broadford of Limerick on a scoreline of 4-12 to 0-6.
With a fifth All Ireland title now in their sights, Cross got off to a perfect start with goals in the opening 10 minutes from Jamie Clarke and John Murtagh. They lead by 2-6 to 0-4 at the changeover and Tony Kernan’s brace of second half goals put paid to the slim chance of a Drom-Broadford recovery.