REIGNING All-Ireland Club champions Portumna have been drawn in a group in what some have termed as the proverbial ‘Group of Death’ for the upcoming Galway senior hurling championship.

Along with Portumna, Group D also comprises of old foes Clarinbridge, 2007 county finalists Kinvara and giant-killers Beagh, in addition to a plucky Killimordaly outfit, who will have it all to do if they are to avoid a relegation battle this coming year.

Speaking on the draw, Portumna manager Johnny Kelly admitted it was “a tough” one for his charges. “We will have to be at our best (for those group games). Kinvara, Beagh, Clarinbridge and Killimordaly, they are good teams all round. So, yeah, we can take nothing for granted.”

In recent years, Portumna – who face Dunloy in the All-Ireland semi-final at Parnell Park on Sunday, February 14 – have tended to wind down after their early spring endeavours. However, Kelly acknowledged they may have to revise their strategy this coming year.

“We probably will, and that is no disrespect to the teams we met in the group stages in previous years. At the moment, all our focus is on February 14 and Dunloy. I suppose, though, it will be at the back of the mind. They are all quality teams. Just thinking about it this morning (Wednesday), I reckon we will have to go back a bit earlier alright.”
Certainly, there is a nice mix to each of the groups and with only three of the five teams advancing to the knockout stages this year, it should ensure the group games are more competitive.

Indeed, another group of note is that comprising three former All-Ireland Club winners – namely Sarsfields, Athenry and Kiltormer – while 2006 county champions Loughrea and perennial underachievers Craughwell will also be pushing hard to top Group A.
In Group B, there should be plenty of bite to championship action there, with St. Thomas’, Tommie Larkins and 2008 county finalists Gort – favoured to advance to the knockout stages. However, an ever-improving Turloughmore side is more than capable of grabbing one of the three places there.

The other team in this group is last year’s county intermediate champions, Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry. Although Tynagh were dumped out of the All-Ireland series by St. Gall’s of Antrim at Parnell Park recently, they did bounce back when recording a hugely impressive 7-15 to 1-4 victory over Rahoon/Newcastle in the 2009 County Intermediate League semi-final the following week.

The true worth of the side, though, is probably somewhere in between those two results, but they will still need to improve if they are to avoid a bottom table finish.

There is also a nice balance to Group C, where city side Liam Mellows and Castlegar will do battle with each other … and Carnmore, Ardrahan and an aggrieved Mullagh, who were left reeling last week after Croke Park reinstated the 48-week suspensions handed down to Galway senior panellist Conor Dervan, All-Ireland winning minor Davy Glennon and wing-back Johnny Rafferty.

No doubt, they are three influential individuals to take out of any side, and if the club are unable to overturn those suspensions, then a place in the knockout stages may just be beyond them. Still, the 2009 semi-finalists could quite easily hurl up a storm this year following the events of the last five months.

For more, read page 56 of this week's Galway City Tribune.