Portumna 2-22……….Kinvara 1-10
Portumna proved just too good for Kinvara in our final group game played in Athenry today. It was always going to be a stern challenge for Kinvara, with Portumna showing class and style all over the field.
Portumna opened the scoring with a point, before David Huban gave Kinvara an early lead with a fine goal from a free. Indeed in the opening ten minutes Kinvara looked well up for this and were making life very difficult for the Port forwards. But for the next 15 minutes it was all Portumna. They popped over ten unanswered points with holes being created all over the Kinvara side. In the same time, Kinvara missed some pointable scores, and so the gap widened. Kinvara did finish the first half strongly with three points from David Huban (free), Niall Curtin with a lovely effort from the wing, and Conor Kavanagh. Portumna unfortunately got a few more too to cancel them out, and so led at halftime 0-13 to 1-3.
Being seven points down at the interval, Kinvara needed a much improved second half. David Huban and Shane Quinn helped stem the tide with early points, but all the hard work was cancelled out by a Niall Hayes goal. David Huban (free) and Ger Mahon swopped points with Portumna, before Joe Canning won the ball 40yards out, turned his man, and bored down on goal and rifled to the top corner. At that stage it was damage limitation and putting some respect on the scoreboard for Kinvara. David Huban (free), Cathal Connolly and David Huban scored points but still Portumna popped over theirs aswell.
In the end the final score was 2-22 to 1-10. At times the Kinvara performance was very good. Indeed the fifteen point defeat would not fairly reflect the overall general performance. There was plenty lads who played very well at times, with a few more not really getting into the flow of it. However Portumna are some side, and can make hurling look like a simple game. Any lapse of concentration is punished, and errors made against Portumna have more drastic outcomes than if they happened against other sides. Hopefully we can learn from this defeat and perpare us for challenges ahead.
On our standings in the group, we are still second with 2 won out of 4. We will finish second in the group, as long as Portumna beat Killimordaly in the final group game. Indeed, it would take Killimordaly to beat Portumna by more than 11 points to knock us off our perch. Based on Portumna current form, one would reasonably expect that not to ever happen. If we do as expected now qualify, then the preliminary quarters will be on in Sept. Still we will wait for all games to be played.
Kinvara team:
Colm Callinan, Alan Leech, Shane Kavanagh, Paul O’Sullivan, Paul Keane, Ger Mahon 0-1, Jonathon Kavanagh, Aidan Moylan, Brian Carroll, David Huban 1-5 (1-3f), Shane Quinn 0-1, Conor Kavanagh 0-1, Dara Smith, Cathal Connolly 0-1, Niall Curtin 0-1. Subs: Peter Mahon for B.Carroll, Cathal Curtin for N.Curtin.
Group table so far:
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Score Diff | Points | |
| Portumna | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 6 |
| Kinvara | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -10 | 4 |
| Clarinbridge | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Beagh | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 2 |
| Killimordaly | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -21 | 2 |
Games left:
Beagh v Clarinbridge, Portumna v Killimordaly
