Portumna showed De La Salle no mercy as they stormed to a crushing 2-24 to 1-8 victory in the 2009 All-Ireland club hurling championship final at Croke Park. The holders were full value for their 19-point success (with eleven different players getting on the scoresheet) and they clipped over a series of impressive points from all over the pitch to make it back-to-back All-Ireland titles and a third Tommy Moore Cup in four years. Remarkable stuff and history in the making from a magnificent band of players. The winners dominated the first half and led by 14 points at the break, 2-11 to 0-3, thanks to a masterclass from Joe Canning and a brace of trademark Damien Hayes goals. De La Salle lost two of their starting forward sextet - Lee Hayes and Derek McGrath - in the early part of the game and this seemed to disrupt their rhythm as the favourites ran them ragged. The underdogs went straight on the offensive but their first attack was snuffed out when John Mullane was penalised for a foul. At the other end, Joe Canning's first contribution was a sideline cut from the right towards the Hill 16 end but his audacious effort failed to split the posts. Surprisingly -if indeed anything about this outstanding side can surprise us any more! - it was Port' full back Eugene McEntee who opened the scoring with a lovely long-range finish from play in the fourth minute. The irrepressible Canning followed up within 60 seconds with a trademark catch and backhand finish on the turn across his right shoulder. Midfielder Brian Phelan opened De La Salle's account with a free on six minutes and the Waterford champions then had a great chance of a goal when Lee Hayes kicked goalward only to have his shot saved by Ivan Canning in the Portumna goal. Niall Hayes made the Munster club pay when he clipped over an immediate point from play to make it 0-3 to 0-1. It wasn't to be Lee Hayes' day and the De La Salle half forward had to leave the fray with a nasty-looking knee injury just after his futile goal attempt had been blocked. Brian Farrell, donning the No.18 shirt, replaced the No.12 in the eleventh minute. DLS dealt capably with the a rare speculative ball in towards dangerman Joe Canning but Phelan sent a long-range free wide into the slight breeze as the outsiders grappled to get back into it. In the 15th minute, Canning doubled his personal tally with a sublime 50-metre sideline cut from the left side, sending the sliothar straight and true over the black spot. Awesome technique from the young Galway sensation. Canning nonchalantly tapped over a 17th-minute free and then skilfully set up Damien Hayes - who'd scored a point minutes earlier - for the opening goal of the game when he drove the leather past Stevie Brenner into the bottom right corner of the net. That goal on 18 minutes meant that the defending champions were justifying their red-hot favouritism to lead by 1-6 to 0-1 Luckless De La Salle were forced into another change when Thomas Kearney came on for full forward Derek McGrath and the magnificent, industrious Canning followed a super pick-up deep in his own half with his fourth point of the match from a close-range free - 1-7 to 0-1 after 21 minutes with Portumna dominant all over the field. An innocuous-looking 'foul' on Mullane presented Phelan and De La Salle with their second point before Port' No.9 Leo Smith replied with a whopping score from way out the field to restore the nine-point margin, 1-8 to 0-2. Joe Canning was stamping his name all over this All-Ireland final and he was on target once more with a superb free from inside his own 65. Two minutes from the break, the De La Salle defence was again carved open before Hayes blasted his second goal to the net past the cruelly-exposed Brenner. Kevin Hayes ran unopposed to bang over another Portumna point as the first half turned into a massacre. When Joe Canning boomed over his sixth point from a central position in the middle of the field in first-half injury time, there were 15 points between the teams But the Waterford men were awarded a penalty in the third added minute, which Port' keeper Ivan Canning diverted over the bar from his opposite number Brenner. At half time, Portumna were in total control, leading deservedly by 2-11 to 0-3. De La Salle had failed to muster a score from play in the first half. The sides had two points apiece in the first five minutes of the second half. Joe Canning (free) got the first of the second half and De La Salle responded when sub Kearney got two excellent points from play. Niall Hayes was on hand to restore the 14-point gap. Damien Hayes brought his tally to 2-2 on 38 minutes to make it 2-14 to 0-5. Calamitous Portumna defending (their only mistake all day) gifted No.10 Paudi Nevin with a De La Salle goal in the 40th minute and the westerners then survived a scramble in their goalmouth as the gap remained at twelve. Centre back Michael Ryan slotted over a great Port' point from play on the run and Joe Canning followed up with a pointed free moments after he had been unlucky to strike a post from a sideline ball. Substitute James Quirke registered a free from the Waterford men who now trailed by 2-16 to 1-6 with the game in its final quarter. Wing forwards Smith and Hayes had Portumna points from play either side of a Caning free to leave the winners in an unassailable position, 2-19 to 1-6 with ten minutes left. It was a frustrating afternoon for DLS captain John Mullane, who tried his heart out but to no avail. At the Canal End, Man of the Match Canning picked out midfielder Eoin Lynch for the 20th Port' point and Niall Hayes followed up instantly with the minor that made it an 18-point game with 57 minutes played, 2-21 to 1-6. Substitute David Canning announced his arrival in Croke Park with an instant point and Andrew Smith floated over yet another Portumna score from an acute angle. Wing back Darren Russell crept forward to point a consolation point on the hour and Mullane finally got off the mark in the first added minute. But this was very much Portumna's day and Kevin Hayes provided the icing on the cake with a wonderful closing point as the mighty Galway champions claimed the Tommy Moore Cup for the third time in four years and wrote their name firmly into the history books. Portumna - I Canning; M Dolphin, E McEntee (0-1), O Canning; G Heagney, M Ryan (0-1), A O Donnell; E Lynch (0-1), L Smith (0-1); N Hayes (0-5), K Hayes (0-1), A Smith (0-2); D Hayes (2-2), J Canning (0-9), C Ryan. Subs: D Canning (0-1). De La Salle - S Brenner (0-1); A Kelly, I Flynn, M Doherty; D Russell (0-1), K Moran, S Daniels; B Phelan (0-2), C Watt; P Nevin (1-0), J Mullane (0-1), L Hayes; D Twomey, D McGrath, D Greene. Subs: T Kearney (0-2), J Quirke (0-1). Ref - J McGrath (Westmeath) Tweet

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