GAA: McShane takes Slaughtneil back on the Ulster trail

  AIB ULSTER SHC SEMI-FINAL Slaughtneil v Dunloy Sunday 2.30 – Owenbeg Ref: James Clarke   IT was always about bouncing back after Cuala. Winning a fifth Derry championship was the first hurdle but Sunday’s Ulster Semi-Final would have been penned in as their date with destiny. Last October they blitzed Loughgiel with a whirlwind opening spell. The pace, the energy and the direct hurling of Mickey McShane’s side asked the Antrim champions questions they simply couldn’t answer. With Cushendall and Loughgiel both absent from the mix, there is a new challenge on Sunday – a youthful Dunloy side. Eight years will have seemed like an eternity, but the kingpins are back following a 12^th championship since their first back in 1990. Investment in an indoor training facility and the creation of a hurling academy was the first ingredient. All was cemented together by the stars of their golden championship side of the 1990s and the noughties back coaching their youth teams. The senior title wasn’t supposed to come this year. Their payback came earlier than expected to cap off the treble. First came the U21 title. The minors won their championship in the curtain raiser to the seniors’ victory over Dunloy – sending the club into raptures. The cubs that were virtually reared in their hurling academy were paraded into Dunloy village on the back of two lorries – one for the minors and one for the seniors. The glory days were back. Slaughtneil manager Michael McShane didn’t see it as that much of a shock: “It is easy to say this with hindsight, but I did actually fancy them from the start of the year to come out of Antrim, or to be very close – I have been keeping a tight eye on them.” CONNECTIONS Sunday will be the second meeting of the clubs in championship hurling. In 2000, Dunloy were 4-14 to 0-9 winners over Slaughtneil. Current selectors Dermot Doherty and Barney McEldowney played in Casement on that day. Video analyst Patrick McEldowney was wing back and Joe McCloskey was on the panel. Padríg Kelly and Fergal McEldowney played central roles and 17 years later are back on the hurling panel after their retirement from football. Dunloy manager Gregory O’Kane played against Slaughtneil back then. Shane Elliott, a member of the management team, was the goalkeeper and his son Ryan is now the current number one. Sean Mullan played wing-back and was one of the driving forces behind the coaching revival. Nigel Elliott played that day in Casement. His son Nigel is the fulcrum of the current senior team – his other son Seaan is on the minor team and tipped for greatness. Ally Elliott’s son Ciaran is the current midfielder. Kevin Molloy is a younger brother of former player Malachy and a cousin of Keelan. Conal ‘Coby’ Cunning’s is a cousin of Conor and a nephew of Jarlath – they man who was sprung from the bench to score the winning goal against Athenry at Clones on their way to the club’s first ever All-Ireland Final. There is another link with Derry. Glenullin man Eoin McNicholl is Dunloy’s strength and conditioning coach – the man credited for getting the injury-plagued Paul Shiels on the road to recovery after two career-threatening hip injuries. PACE Two years ago Slaughtneil beat Dunloy in the UIster minor hurling final. Dunloy’s side was virtually an U17 team which came back the following year to beat Kevin Lynch’s in the decider at Ballinascreen. Conal Cunning, Keelan Molloy, Eoin O’Neill and Eamon Smyth have graduated to the senior team. In their win over Cushendall, Dunloy found the going tough when going down the middle. It wasn’t until they utilised the wings and exploited the space did they begin to turn the game. The expansive Ballycastle pitch suited them as they racked up 2-8 in a 15 minute spell after the break. “It was astonishing because Dunloy didn’t look that they were ever going to do that. It may have been a bit to do with nerves but in the second-half they came out and were like a new team,” explained the watching Michael McShane. “If you give them the room and the space and allow them to run at you, they will do damage. They have a really solid defence as well and a good midfield – they are not all just about your forwards.” he added. But it will make him sit up and take notice. Sean Cassidy and Shane McGuigan will have important roles in the centre of defence. Karl McKaigue and Paul McNeill will be handed the task of curbing Molloy and Cunning. Nigel Elliott will need watched as well and Paul Shiels, now the team’s playmaker, will feature in the thoughts this week. Chrissy McKaigue tends to drift everywhere in search of possession and will need to repeat the magic of last year’s Ulster Final. After six games in seven weeks, Slaughtneil’s dual players had a welcome week off duty at the weekend to nurse the sores of the football and recharge the batteries, “You just can’t underestimate the importance of having a weekend that the lads don’t have a game,” McShane commented. “You are asking lads to get up for a championship game every weekend and that’s not easy – it takes a couple of days to come down from a game, by that time you are trying to get back up again.” Cormac O’Doherty picked up a hand injury in the football final win over Ballinascreen but the Slaughtneil boss confirmed he is picking from a full deck for Sunday’s game. “We came out of Sunday (against Ballinascreen), we came out of Monday and Tuesday (reserve games) with no injuries, so it seems to be all systems go,” McShane added. Dunloy are waiting on the fitness of corner back Oran Quinn, who sustained an injury in the Antrim final. Eamon Smyth will be next in line. Following their previous 11 Antrim titles, Dunloy have only failed to win Ulster once – in 1998. They were banned from competing in Ulster following a brawl with Lavey the previous season. Beaten county finalists Ballycastle, with Michael McShane at corner forward, lost the Ulster final by a point after extra-time in a replay. After dealing with Ballinascreen’s damage limitation mission and Banagher’s aggression – Sunday brings a different challenge. The vows after the Cuala defeat about bouncing back come to the table on Sunday. This is the main event and if Slaughtneil can bring a relentless intensity to the game, they have the man markers and scoring power to retain their Ulster title. VERDICT: SLAUGHTNEIL LAST MEETING… 2000 Ulster SHC Final Dunloy 4-14 Slaughtneil 0-9 TWO first-half goals from Paddy Richmond and man-of-the-match Seamus McMullan put Dunloy into a comfortable 2-7 to 0-3 lead, spelling an end to Slaughtneil’s Ulster title hopes at Casement Park. Points from Dermot Doherty frees was the main source of scores for the Emmet’s but goals from Ciaran McGrath and Liam Richmond rounded of the victory for Dunloy’s fifth title. Dunloy: Shane Elliott, Sean McIlhatton, Damian McMullan, Frankie McMullan, Paudie McMullan, Gary O'Kane, Sean Mullan, Conor Cunning (0-2), Colm McGuckian (0-2), Gregory O'Kane (0-4), Seamus McMullan (1-3), Liam Richmond (1-1), Ciaran McGrath (1-0), Paddy Richmond (1-0), Eamon McKee (0-1). Subs: Nigel Elliott for C McGuckian (53), Jarlath Elliott (0-1) for C McGrath (58), Malachy Molloy for P McMullan (58), Michael McClements for L Richmond (62). Slaughtneil: Eoin McGuigan, Francis McEldowney, Barney McEldowney, Declan Kearney, Patrick McEldowney, Colin McEldowney, Padríg Kelly, Francie Burke, Declan Cassidy (0-1), Fergal McEldowney (0-1), Padraig McKaigue, Dermot Doherty (0-5), Adrian Quigg (0-1), Mark Cassidy, Danny McMullan. Subs: Jim Kelly (0-1) for A Quigg (40), Michael Kearney for P McKaigue (40).