All-Ireland club hurling final; Portumna 2-24 De La Salle 1-08:It's quite possible the GAA fans who filed into Croke Park on this glorious St Patrick's Day saw one of the greatest club hurling sides ever, though there'll be little comfort taken in that by supporters of Waterford's De La Salle or, indeed, their players. Defending champions Portumna were at it again and there was nothing their opponents could do about it.
The Galway side’s demolition of Ballyhale Shamrocks in the semi-final meant their was little cause for optimism down Waterford way ahead of the club’s first All-Ireland final appearance.
Portumna’s defeat of Kilkenny’s finest was the template to victory with a barrage of scores arriving in the first half.
The surprise, in retrospect, was that it took Portumna five full minutes to score, but full back Eugene McEntee set them on their way and by the 20th minute Joe Canning had pointed four and Damien Hayes had found the net for a nine point lead.
De La Salle’s contribution came via Brian Phelan, who added another in the 22nd minute but Leo Smith answered back immediately for Portumna.
By the time goalkeeper Stevie Brenner pointed from a penalty, Hayes had his second goal and Canning had his sixth point. Portumna strolled in at the break with a 2-11 to 0-03 lead.
The silver lining for De La Salle was their refusal to capitulate in the face of such firepower and it is to their credit that they nearly quadrupled their first half total after the break.
Joe Canning opened the scoring but Thomas Carney answered back with two of his own.
Paudi Nevin then managed to scramble the ball over the line for a goal but all the while Portumna were picking off points.
Niall Hayes got his second and combined with his brother Damien for another. The former added three more before the half was out and Canning brought his total to nine, while his brother, Davy, also pointed.
Three dying kicks came from Andy Smith, Darren Russell and the ever-willing John Mullane but the whistle was surely a relief for the De La Salle players and their fans.