IT’S hard to stop the mind drifting back down the decades when the names remain the same so many years on.
Portaferry powered past Ballygalget on Sunday to complete a hat-trick of Down crowns. The last time they achieved that feat, between 2000 and 2002, Gerard McGrattan was still strutting his stuff.
At Pairc Esler, the county’s only Allstar stood and watched, arms folded across his fluorescent orange bainisteoir bib, as son Tom served up a master-class - defying the angry breaths of Storm Ashley and summoning real moments of magic to finish up with 1-12 against his name.
Those broad shoulders, the head up hurling, that rampaging running style; it was like being transported back to the ‘90s golden generation when Down feared no-one.
And then there’s the Sands boys, Eoghan and Daithi. Sons of Noel, and possessing of their father’s warrior spirit, Eoghan is the kind of leader every team craves while the enigmatic Daithi plays with a freedom and unpredictability that makes his every move must-watch.
Those three mustered 3-17 of Portaferry’s tally of 3-21 in Newry, but their contribution to the cause was so much more than simply scores on the board. At the back, snuffing out embers before they were allowed to become full-blown fires, stands Darragh Mallon, son of Marty, another stalwart of those great sides that have gone before.
But there is a reason why the older generation prefer not to be used as a reference point. Gerard McGrattan visibly winces when the conversation turns to days of yore.
Because he wants this crew to keep writing their own story, irrespective of surnames or familial ties. To him, these boys have earned the right to be spoken of in their own terms, without the need for constant comparison.
Winning three Down championships in-a-row is a decent marker; now, it is about making that next step.
Last year Portaferry came so close to announcing their arrival as a proper provincial force when leading eventual Ulster champions Cushendall by five with only a few minutes left on the clock at the Athletic Grounds.
Neil McManus, hugely influential still as the Ruairi Ogs downed Dunloy in Ballycastle yesterday, had other ideas – a last-gasp goal sending that semi-final to extra-time, from which point the Antrim champions trampled over their exhausted opponents.
But, for all the devastation, coming so close, knowing they could – maybe should – have won showed Portaferry that they belonged on this stage. Getting back there again was priority number one.
Yet Ballygalget promised something a bit different, in as much as that is even possible in the claustrophobic hurling hotbed of the Ards. Portaferry and Ballycran had become so used to facing off in finals that an arm wrestle, borne of that familiarity, was virtually guaranteed.
The Mitchel’s hadn’t been in a Down decider since last lifting the Jeremiah McVeagh Cup in 2017. Emigration and injuries hit them harder than most but, buoyed by the emergence of a talented crop coming through, they romped through the round-robin with a 100 per cent record, victory in Portaferry on the last day the icing on the cake.
Yet Ballygalget knew the candles would only be blown out if they beat them in the big one. There was no Daithi Sands that day, after all, and no trophy, no pathway to Ulster redemption, at stake.
Portaferry have improved since last year’s Armagh heartache, and they showed it.
After a frenetic opening 10 minutes, McGrattan’s men started to turn the screw as they set about breaking Ballygalget down and unleashing their lethal attackers at the earliest opportunity.
Tom McGrattan was up against county team-mate John McManus, but there was only one winner this time around as the 20-year-old’s peerless free-taking – rendering the elements an utter irrelevance – provided a platform for him and Portaferry to take control.
And the game’s first goal came when a long ball launched from deep hung in the air. McManus momentarily lost his footing, allowing Eoghan Sands to nip in and bat beyond Eoin Clarke.
In a nine-minute period, Portaferry scored 2-6 to one point from Ballygalget as Ben Toner’s men were unable to get out. Every time they tried, they found a man in their face, closing the space, blocking shots or deflecting clearances.
The champions were in the mood.
McGrattan grabbed their second goal just before half-time, profiting from another long ball forward that the Ballygalget defence failed to deal with, taking no time to think before lashing low to the net.
Ballygalget grabbed a goal just before half-time, Marc Fisher forcing home Ben Teggart’s beautifully flighted sideline, but even then it looked like little more than damage limitation as they trailed by 10 at the break.
But, with the wind whipping up and making life difficult for Portaferry after half-time, the Mitchel’s did manage a shard of light when Oisin Coulter’s effort at the posts was fumbled over the line by Portaferry goalkeeper Pearce Smyth, after Owen McDermott, Shea Pucci and Coulter had already narrowed the gap.
Their lead suddenly halved, on five in it, and with Ballygalget’s tails up, how would Portaferry react? Without too much fuss, is the answer.
Eoghan Sands pumped his fist into air after slotting over heading towards the final 10, Ballygalget’s revival never quite materialising as tired legs allowed for the kind of space that Portaferry’s pace will punish all day long.
And they did just that down the straight, the majestic McGrattan to the fore throughout, a chip off the old block if ever there was one, as that earlier scare was quickly brushed off.
The suspension of ferry services across Strangford Lough might have forced them the long way around the peninsula on the bus ride home – those players won’t care, yet they know this is only the start; it has to be.
What happened against Cushendall last year took a long time to shake.
They have six weeks now to prepare for an Ulster final against either the newly-minted Antrim champions, or whoever wins the delayed Derry decider between Banagher and Slaughtneil - a chance to put the record straight.
A chance to write even more of their own history.
Portaferry: P Smyth; D Mallon, T Murray, R Smyth; B Trainor (0-1), C Taggart, C Milligan; M Conlan, S Conlan; N Fitzsimmons (0-2), F Turpin (0-1), E Sands (1-2); D Sands (1-3), T McGrattan (1-12, 0-8 frees), N Milligan. Subs: N Rogers for N Milligan (42), C Fay for Fitzsimmons (53), C Savage for C Milligan (60+1)
Yellow card: F Turpin (49)
Ballygalget: E Clarke; M Toner, C Watson, J Smyth; Caolan Coulter, J McManus, B Teggart; Cathal Coulter (0-1, free), O McDermott (0-3); M Fisher (1-4, 0-3 frees, 0-1 sideline), S Pucci (0-2), O Coulter (1-1); D Toner (0-2, 0-1 free), M Og Dorrian, T Prenter (0-1). Subs: E Pucci (0-1) for O Coulter (43), P McManus for Teggart (52), O Birt for Caolan Coulter (55), Cormac Coulter for S Pucci (57)
Yellow cards: J Smyth (33), J McManus (45)
Referee: P Owens (Liatroim)
