Portumna face Ballyhale Shamrocks in today's All-Ireland senior club hurling championship final in Croke Park and will aim to become the first club side to put three All-Ireland titles back to back, while claiming their fourth Tommy Moore Cup in five years. Revenge will be on the minds of the Kilkenny champions who were well beaten by the Galway champions who put five goals past Ballyhale en route to last year's final against De La Salle.

Portumna will have a full strength squad to pick from as star forward Joe canning emerged unscathed from Limerick IT's Fitzgibbon Cup defeat to NUI Galway.

Much focus will be on the potential shoot-out between Canning and Ballyhale's very own star, Henry Shefflin. A ten-point haul from Shefflin was not enough to tame Portumna last year, but a fully fit Shefflin will pose an even greater test in the wide expanses of Croke Park.

Manager Johnny Kelly has made one change to the side that defeated Dunloy in the semi-final, with Niall Hayes returning to the number ten shirt in place of Ciaran Ryan after missing the semi due to suspension.

However, it would be remiss for either team to concentrate all their efforts on the two main men as both sides have amply scoring power in their sides. In the semi-final Andy Smith, Ryan, Kevin Hayes and Damien Hayes all weighted in with scores, while the likes of Mark Aylward, Eoin and TJ Reid, and Cha Fitzpatrick will cause havoc if given the chance.

It'll be a tough, intense battle, but Portumna's big-day experience should edge the war.

Portumna: I Canning; A O'Donnell, E McEntee, O Canning; G Heagney, M Ryan, P Smith; L Smith, E Lynch; N Hayes, K Hayes, A Smith; D Hayes, J Canning, M Dolphin.

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