Ulster Club Senior Hurling Championship Final: Dunloy (Antrim) v Slaughtneil (Derry)
(Sunday, Athletic Grounds, 1.30pm, live on TG4 Youtube)
Rarely has there been a greater sense of anticipation ahead of an Ulster Club Senior Hurling Championship final than Sunday’s decider between Slaughtneil and Dunloy.
For the last number of years, Dunloy have been mooted as challengers to Slaughtneil’s dominance of the provincial series.
Three times in recent seasons, they’ve fallen short against the Emmet’s. Most recently, in last season’s semi-final at the Athletic Grounds, they lost out by seven points.
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The Cuchullain's return to Armagh City this Sunday knowing that, if they topple Slaughtneil, they’ll also take their Ulster title.
It is a prospect that excites manager Gregory O’Kane but, as he sat in the stand at Corrigan Park to watch Slaughtneil hammer Portaferry last month, he admits he didn’t see much chink in their armour.
“No doubt, there were times that day (against Portaferry) when they looked unplayable,” said O’Kane.
“They’ve strength-in-depth all over the pitch and their use of the ball. . . they were on a level that will be hard to deal with.
“Even their panel, their strength-in-depth is probably an area where they’ve come up short in the past. This year, they seem to have worked on it.
“They started the three young lads and (Ruairi) Ó Mianáin looks a very good player. He has come through the underage structures and is starting to show that promise.
“To bring in players of the quality of Gerard Bradley shows the strength-in-depth they have.”
This time last year, Dunloy were coming off the back of a hugely impressive Antrim SHC campaign and they routed Rossa in a one-sided county final at Corrigan Park. That probably wasn’t the ideal preparation for a provincial showdown with Slaughtneil.
Now, some 12 months on, Dunloy’s last competitive game saw them lift the Volunteer Cup for a fourth successive season, but only after edging Cushendall 1-20 to 2-11 in the final.
That should stand to Dunloy, but O’Kane admits Slaughtneil remain the benchmark in Ulster.
“We are a young team. We are always learning and always developing,” said O’Kane.
“That’s the challenge for us. It is a massive challenge on Sunday, but one we are looking forward to at the same time.
“The one thing is you can never play those games again. The only thing we are in control of is the game in front of us on Sunday. That’s the only one we are concentrating on.
“Slaughtneil have been dominating Ulster and that’s the reality. They are the benchmark and they’ve set the standards very high. That’s the level we are striving to get to.”
The seven-week gap since their last competitive hurling game is far from ideal, but a large number of the Dunloy squad were involved in the Ulster Club IFC loss to Dungloe.
Chrissy McMahon, who plundered a late goal in the county final against Cushendall, picked up a knock in that game against the Donegal champions and won’t feature on Sunday while the provincial decider will also come too soon for Conor McKinley, although Deaglan Smyth is available for selection.
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