Cushendall go into Sunday’s Ulster final against Slaughtneill knowing they will need to produce their best display of the season if they are to keep their unbeaten record against the Derry champions.
Nobody can deny they are worthy county champions but there were times when they could have been caught, and on more than one occasion they needed their captain Neill McManus to get them over the line. McManus and his young scoring partner Joseph McLaughlin have been the men who got the vital scores in a good few games this season, especially in their extra time win over Down champions Portaferry in the semi-final win in Armagh two weeks ago.
Even their most ardent Ruairi Og fans must have felt that game had gone from them when Portaferry lead by four points going into injury time. Everyone that was except McManus. When he won a ball out near the stand sideline we all felt he would lob it ‘in around the house’ in the hope that someone could finish it to the net, but the big full forward kept his cool and slotted it over to leave just one score between the teams. Many of us felt that was the last opportunity could well be gone, but McManus knew that a chance would come, and when it did he produced another Roy of the Rovers moment to bring the game to extra time. That period of extra time turned out to be the Joe show as McLaughlin hit 2-3 to pull his team well clear of the shell shocked down champions, who had lady luck turn her back on them one more time.
In the county final against Loughgiel McManus could not buy a score at times, but he kept plugging away and though he managed a mere five points from countless chances, those points were vital at the end of the day.
In Sunday’s final in Newry Cushendall will face a team on a level above any of the teams Cushendall have faced so far this year. Since their defeat to Dunloy in last year’s final Slaughtneil have been waiting on the chance to get back to the top of the Ulster ladder and on Sunday they will leave no stone unturned in their efforts to get their hands on the Four Seasons Cup once again. Add to this the fact that they have never beaten Cushendall in the Ulster title race and I doubt if team manager Mickey McShane will have too much trouble motivating his team for this contest. They are a team of stars and the likes of Brendan Rodgers, Chrissy McKaigue, Peter McCullagh, Cormac O’Doherty, and Shane McGuigan they have players who would grace any team in the country.
However Cushendall will not be travelling to Pairc Esler just to make up the numbers, for this is a contest they will relish. The number of times we have seen them pull games out of the fire when the odds were stacked against them keep increasing by the year.
Slaughtneil are a team filled with great hurlers and great competitors who go into Sunday’s game as favourites. The only slight worry they might have is the eleven week break since they won the Derry final but no doubt Mickey McShane has been keeping them on their toes during that period with a series of challenge games. If Cushendall play as poorly as they did for the first 55 minutes against Portaferry and the last fifteen against Loughgiel then they will struggle to get over the line, but if the Burkes, Eoghan Campbell, Ryan McCambridge, Joseph McLaughlin and Neil McManus produce the form they are capable of then the Four Seasons Cup could be back in the Lurig Inn for a record 12th time on Sunday evening.
