Gort 2-13 Portumna 1-10
Gort dethroned All-Ireland club hurling champions Portumna with a 2-13 to 1-10 victory after a late goal flourish in the dying minutes of the Galway SHC final at Athenry.
A tight, nervous affair sprung into life in the 58th minute when a goal from Portumna's Kevin Hayes' levelled matters and looked to have secured a replay for the six-time champions.
But Gort went straight up the field and scored two goals in a minute from Albert Mullins and substitute Wayne Walsh to claim their first county title since 2011.
Gort's reward is an All-Ireland semi final against Kilkenny and Leinster champions Ballyhale Shamrocks, in February.
Without a competitive game in the last nine weeks because of an appeal on the other side of the draw, Portumna looked a little rusty from the off.
Joe Canning got them off the mark with a third-minute free, but Richie Cummins soon pushed Gort ahead with points in the sixth and tenth minutes.
Another Joe Canning point, this time from play was cancelled out by a long-range free from Greg Lally, before Ronan O'Meara levelled it at 0-3 each in the 14th minute.
Gerry Quinn landed his first pointed free of the game after 20 minutes to reopen Gort's lead, and after Joe and Ollie Canning combined for the best point of the game, a run of three scores on the trot form Aidan Harte, Paul Killilea and Quinn gave them an 0-08 to 0-04 lead.
Cummins fluffed a goal chance just before the break for Gort, but they still went in ahead by 0-09 to 0-05 at the interval when Quinn slotted his third free.
For the most part it was Quinn's accuracy from dead balls that kept Portumna at bay in the second half. He hit four more frees after the interval, as Damien Hayes with two quick points and Ollie Canning put just two points between the sides by the 38th minute.
Gort held solid though and Quinn's seventh free stretched the gap to three with four minutes remaining. Then the goal rush ensued.
Kevin Hayes first timed the ball past Gavin Lally to level the game just as Portumna appeared dead and buried, but straight from the puck out Wayne Walsh poked to the Portumna net to restore their lead.
And when Albert Mullins hit Gort's second goal in a minute, just as injury-time began there was no way back for Portumna.
Scorers – Gort: G Quinn 0-07 (7f), A Mullins 1-00, W Walsh 1-00, A Harte 0-01, G Lally 0-02 (1f), R Cummins 0-02, P Killilea 0-01. Portumna: J Canning 0-06 (4f), K Hayes 1-00, D Hayes 0-02, O Canning & R O'Meara 0-01 each.
Gort: G Lally; M McMahon, T Linnane, M Cummins; A Harte, G Lally, S Og Linnane; S Forde, Jason Grealish; M Mullins, A Mullins, P Killilea; G O'Donoghue, R Cummins, G Quinn.
Subs: C Helebert for Jason Grealish (46 mins), W Walsh (1-00) for O'Donoghue (48), N Forde for S Forde (54), Jack Grealish for Mullins (62).
Portumna: J Keane; G Heagney, C O'Hare, P Smith; O Treacy, M Dolphin, E Lynch; L Smith, D Hayes, J Canning; K Hayes, O Canning; N Hayes, R O'Meara, A Smith.
Subs: P Dolphin for L Smith (50-51 mins blood), P Dolphin for O'Meara (56).
Referee: Christy Browne.
