"He comes in for a lot of attention in a lot of games but he's a couple of years older now. He's a very experienced player. He's played at the highest level now since probably 2009/10. He's a lovely guy to be around."

Rhode failed to ruffle Diarmuid Connolly's feathers and the All Star came in for special praise from St Vincent's manager Tommy Conroy.

"He takes a lot of hits and he takes a lot of everything and it's very frustrating for him at times too. From what I saw, Pauric didn't start that. He was just unlucky. But I'm not going to say a bad word about Connolly either."

Rhode manager Pat Daly defended his captain Pauric Sullivan who picked up a second yellow card following a confrontation with Connolly early in the second-half.

"You have no idea what this means to the people of Gort. We got a hiding in 2008 when Portumna were at the peak of their powers. We were gossons growing up and we came of age there today. It means an awful lot to us."

Gort selector Mattie Murphy was in celebratory mode after they claimed just their second Galway SHC title since 1983.

"What a fantastic game, not a bad belt, no stoppages, nothing. What a team Portumna are, they threw everything at us today.

Holders Portumna didn't go down without a fight according to Gort's 'Man of the Match' Aidan Harte.

"It was nine weeks since we played, it took its toll. It's hard on them. But the better team won on the day, they adapted better to the conditions."

Portumna manager Michael Monaghan was gracious in defeat.

"We have been playing some intense games. We had a league final two weeks ago, and a Connacht final the week before that. That stood to us in relation to our match fitness."

Corofin pulled away from Tir Chonaill Gaels in the second-half and manager Stephen Rochford put that down to their superior fitness.

"I have been following Cork football since my childhood and I can say without fear of contradiction I have never been as disgusted and disappointed at the nasty sniping and veiled efforts at undermining this team management and players by people who should know better."

Outgoing Cork chairman Bob Ryan hit out at critics of the Cork senior footballers in his address to convention.

"Having failed narrowly in 2013 to win league promotion unfortunately 2014 was no different. I have no doubt that 2015 will see a major effort being made to remedy the situation."

TJ Ryan and the Limerick senior hurlers has the full backing of county chairman Oliver Mann.

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