AIB Ulster Club Senior Hurling Championship
Final
Dunloy v Slaughtneil
Sunday 4 December
Venue: Athletic Grounds, Armagh
Throw in: 1:30pm
Brendan McTaggart looks ahead to Sunday’s Ulster Club Senior Hurling Final as Dunloy look to conjure up the Perfect Storm against Slaughtneil….
All roads lead to Armagh on Sunday afternoon as Dunloy look to dethrone Slaughtneil as Kings of Ulster.
The Derry men have been a force of nature since claiming their first Ulster title in 2015, against Loughgiel at the Athletic Grounds. Covid stopped them from defending their crown in 2020 but in the intervening years since winning their first provincial title, 2018 is the only blip on their record. Ballycran surprising the hurling world with a win against Mickey McShane’s men in Corrigan.
10 Derry championship wins in succession, five Ulster’s and improving performances in the semi-final of the All-Ireland, it’s easy to see why Slaughtneil are the bookies favourites to take the Four Seasons Cup back to An Carn.
Sunday will be these sides fourth meeting in six years. The Cuchullains won’t need reminding of how the previous three encounters finished. Owenbeg (2017), Pairc Esler (2019) and Athletic Grounds (2021) and the score board making uneasy reading for Dunloy by the end of the hour. All three matches taking a different life of their own.
In 2017, Dunloy were on the crest of a wave coming into the semi-final having won the Antrim Championship for the first time in eight years. An early Nigel Elliott goal got Gregory O’Kane’s side off to a dream start but Slaughtneil clicked into gear with Cormac O’Doherty giving an exhibition in point scoring.
Both teams have excellent free takers in Cormac O’Doherty and Conal Coby Cunning
Pairc Esler hosted the Ulster Final between the two and Slaughtneil were hugely impressive in the opening stages. They weren’t going to get caught on the hop like two years previous and could have had Dunloy out of sight by half time. That being said, it took a superb save from Oisin O’Doherty to deny Ronan Molloy a certain goal with the game still in the balance. A second half dismissal of Nigel Elliott for a second yellow card in what was his last game before going to Australia sealed Dunloy’s fate and Slaughtneil regained the Ulster Championship they relinquished a year previous.
Last year in Armagh was the game of chess between two titans of the game. Playing into the wind in the first half, Dunloy trailed by two. That was increased to three early in the second half before Dunloy fought back to leave the minimum between the sides. It was a case of ‘who would blink first’ and it was Slaughtneil who held out. A sloppy goal for the Cuchullains to concede gave Slaughtneil control and they never relinquished their grip on the Four Seasons Cup.
Dunloy will hope for something different on Sunday.
They took some flak for how they set up in Armagh last year but if you look at the match closely, they had generated the perfect storm and but for one mistake, it could have been different. But that’s all it takes against a side like Slaughtneil. A brilliant team who have savage desire and cracking hurling ability. A team who have all the know how to win in the big moments, win the big games and a team who have fought to earn the respect of the hurling world.
All those attributes accumulate into the Slaughtneil juggernaut and hurling machine that the Cuchullains face on Sunday.
The Cuchullains have been making a juggernaut of their own in Pearse Park. Four Antrim championships in a row is not to be sniffed at and five in six years make them the undoubted daddies of the ash within the Saffron county in recent times.
A record of 10 Ulster championships in their history is admirable, the last of those coming in 2009. A record this current crop of players have to be itching to put straight.
Slaughtneil’s performance against Portaferry was hugely impressive just two weeks ago. 2-25 over the hour, conceding just 0-11 at the other end of the pitch. Bringing a plethora of talent off the bench with the likes of Mark and Jerome McGuigan along with former Ulster hurler of the year, Gerald Bradley in the second half. The only point for concern would be the concession of so many scoring chances against Portaferry. The Down men weren’t at the races and shot a bucket load of wides in the first half, overall they converted just 11 of 30 scoring chances. You have to think that if Slaughtneil cough up the same amount of scoring chances to the Cuchullains, the attacking depth Gregory O’Kane has at his disposal would make more of those chances.
Dunloy have their own injury concerns however. Chrissy McMahon is ruled out having sustained an injury in the Cuchullains Ulster Club football defeat to Dungloe. Deaglan Smith is in a race against time to shake off the effects of a broken ankle sustained against St John’s in the semi-final of the Antrim Championship while Sunday is likely to come a couple of weeks too soon for Conor McKinley who has missed all of this years championship.
Both sides know each other inside out and it’s unlikely either will be able to spring any surprises. Part of me would love to see Dunloy field Shorty at inside forward and play Coby further out the field as he has shown earlier this season with Antrim. He has the workrate, tenacity, an eye for a pass and an ability to score from distance. Looking back to previous matches between the two, that attribute could be pivotal.
Cormac O’Doherty is a player who pulls the strings for Slaughtneil. His performance against Portaferry was simply outstanding. Playing deeper, controlling the tempo, dictating the flow of the game, he’ll need some attention if Dunloy are going to get over the line. Not forgetting the attacking talents of Brendan Rodgers and Brian Cassidy who finished with 1-6 against Portaferry.
Everywhere you turn there’s danger in this Slaughtneil team and a side who are built around the defensive tenacity of Chrissy and Karl McKaigue along with Meehaul McGrath. Shane McGuigan played at midfield against Portaferry and has done for most of the season but I’d expect to see him line out in defence to pick up Keelan Molloy. McGuigan is a talented individual with a hurl in his hand but his ability to stop others from flourishing has been pivotal for Slaughtneil in recent years and there’s no doubt they’ll have to look after Molloy if they are to be successful.
For those who fancy a flutter, Slaughtneil can be found at 1/2 and Dunloy at 15/8 with the handicap betting at two points and even money. Every road you look has the odds in favour of the Four Seasons Cup staying in the Oakleaf County. I may end up deleting my Paddy Power account in protest.
Dunloy need to conjure up another perfect storm and an immaculate performance to match. In their matches against Slaughtneil since 2017, they haven’t played to their full potential. It will take the Cuchullains to be firing on all cylinders to wrestle the Four Seasons Cup away from the grasp of Slaughtneil.