Portaferry dogfight will stand to Slaughtneil - Ó Mianáin

Derry and Slaughtneil star Ruairí Ó Mianáin believes that last weekend’s battle with Down champions Portaferry will stand to the thirteen-in-a-row Derry kingpins as they prepare for their AIB Ulster club hurling final clash with Antrim’s St John’s on Saturday evening in Armagh.

A strong final-quarter surge powered the South Derry side to a 1-23 to 1-18 victory over the Mournemen in Armagh in a repeat of last year’s provincial final, setting up another date at the same venue this coming weekend against the Belfast men.

Slaughtneil had narrowly edged Portaferry in last year’s decider and once again were forced to dig deep to secure their passage to the final.

“We had to play a different brand of hurling. Some days the ball goes to hand and everything is ticking in the forward line, but it wasn’t happening that way, so we had to change our game, win ruck balls, win the breaks, and just try to dog out a score however we could. So it’s really pleasing knowing that we can do that.”

There has been a bittersweet element to Slaughtneil’s progress in recent weeks. The dual club exited the Derry senior football championship at the semi-final stage in a controversial 0-21 to 1-16 defeat to Newbridge. The loss allowed the club’s dual players to focus solely on hurling in the weeks since, something that comes with both advantages and drawbacks.

For much of the panel, juggling both codes is a delicate balancing act. But despite the additional commitment, Ó Mianáin believes Robert Emmet’s can compete with anyone when they hit their stride.

“We were training both codes up until we were put out of the football, but since then it’s given a different dynamic to training. All of a sudden you have an extra 45 minutes a night of pure stickwork and hurling, which tallies up over the weeks, so naturally the standard rises. It’s been nice in some ways, but obviously you’d rather still be in the football.”

“You can only call someone a footballer so many times before you say, ‘Actually, these boys are hurlers, because they’re winning consistently.”

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“My age group probably isn’t as accustomed to the football side of things, but we feel on a whole like we’re among the best hurling teams in Ulster. I’d say a lot of people who know our camp know the calibre of hurling that we’re capable of.”