ALL-IRELAND CLUB HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL: Portumna 2-24 De La Salle 1-8:BEING THE day that was in it, and the year that is in it, the GAA presented a pageant between the games at Croke Park yesterday.

Any sort of parade or procession would have been redundant after Portumna had claimed their third All-Ireland club hurling title in four years by a record margin in the day's opening match.

For a club that went 119 years without winning a senior title, Portumna have not just entered an extraordinary period for themselves but have secured a place in the pantheon among the greatest club hurling sides we have seen. With only three of yesterday's starting 15 on the experienced side of 30 we can expect that there is more to come.

Commiserations are due to a De La Salle side whose job it is to return to Waterford and ensure the populace that not every All-Ireland senior final involving a Waterford side will end this way. It just seems so at present.

De La Salle's misfortune, just like Waterford's last September, was to walk into the propellers of a side at the very top of their game.

Portumna were breathtaking at times yesterday, their use of space and the quick ball an example to any side. The winning margin was 19 points but one had the impression that, had they wanted to, they could have stretched the gap almost to infinity. They were that irresistible.

De La Salle, as they rub their heads this morning, will relive the game as a series of unfortunate events. What do you do when the opposition full back saunters up to take the first score of the game as Eugene McEntee did yesterday. A couple of minutes later a sideline cut from Aiden O'Donell hit Joe Canning's palm and by way of ensuring all that his bionic wrists were in full working order Canning drove the ball over the bar from 50 yards. The margin was just two points but really we knew.

Canning's genius is such that we have come to take the miraculous for granted. There is scarcely a ripple of excitement any more when he drives a 50-yard sideline cut over the bar. Indeed in the first half yesterday the biggest gasp came when he narrowly missed a free from out on the wing deep inside his own half.

And yet he is still compulsive viewing and he was pivotal to the goal in the 18th minute which will go down as one of the best seen in club hurling finals over the years.

Somehow a clearance driven from defence by Michael Ryan went straight at head height to Canning who was standing in the centre-forward position. Without moving, he dinked a wonderful little reverse handpass into the path of Damien Hayes who was steaming past like an express train. He went on and drove his shot with textbook accuracy and precision low into the far corner.

By that stage De La Salle had already suffered more than their quota of misfortunes. Lee Hayes, bursting through on an early sortie, opted to kick for goal and was punished for his inelegance by pulling what looked like a hamstring. He had to be replaced and so too minutes later did Derek McGrath, the side's full forward and one of their leadership figures.

As they say though, just because your wife dies it doesn't mean your house can't burn down. When Brian Phelan scored De La Sale's second point from a free the puck- out was taken in a flash, straight to Leo Smith who drove it over the bar at the far end. That's how little oxygen Portumna were allowing their opponents.

A couple of minutes before half- time Hayes helped himself to another goal. Ciarán Ryan did the donkey work beating his man and releasing on time. Hayes, impeccable all afternoon, finished mercilessly to put his side 13 points up with half-time still a couple of minutes away.

By now Ollie Canning was sweeping across his own 21-yard line composing his speech and, in his spare time, mopping up anything which De La Salle might have drawn some hope from.

Portumna were dominant at midfield and the fluidity of their forward movement was encouraged by the constant use of the quick ball into space

They went into the break with 14 points separating the sides (one point greater already than the previous largest winning margin in a club final) and with De La Salle having secured just a point from a penalty late in the half for which Stevie Brenner made the long journey from goal to take.

De La Salle kept working through a second half in which substitute Thomas Kearney showed encouraging signs of life.

But the truth is they were overwhelmed and the final minutes of the game saw battalions of substitutes from either side being sent on to the field to experience the day. The pageantry and the football followed but we saw nothing to compare with Portumna in their pomp.

PORTUMNA: I Canning; M Dolphin, E McEntee (0-1) O Canning (Capt); G Heagney, M Ryan (0-1) , A O'Donnell; E Lynch (0-1), L Smith (0-1); N Hayes (0-3), K Hayes (0-2), A Smith (0-2); D Hayes (2-3); J Canning (0-9, five frees, one sideline), C Ryan. Subs: D Canning (0-1) for C Ryan (56 mins), M Gill for G Heagney (57 mins), P Smith for L Smith (57 mins), P Tracy for A O'Donnell (59 mins), J O'Flaherty for E McEntee (59 mins).

DE LA SALLE: S Brenner (0-1, a pen); A Kelly, I Flynn, M Doherty; D Russell (0-1), K Moran, S Daniels; B Phelan (0-2, one free), C Watt; P Nevin (1-0), J Mullane (0-1), L Hayes; D Twomey, D McGrath, D Greene, Subs: B Farrell for L Hayes (10 mins), T Kearney (0-2) for D McGrath (17 mins), J Quirke (0-1) for B Farrell (half-time), A O'Neill for C Watt (56 mins), D Dooley for D Twomey (56 mins).

Referee: J McGrath (Westmeath).