Antrim Senior Hurling Championship final preview
By Brendan McTaggart
Cushendall manager Brian Delargy is in his fourth season at the helm of the Ruairi’s. He has overseen a resurgence in a side that some may have been too quick to write off. With Loughgiel and Dunloy having a monopoly on the minor championships for the better part of 10 years barring the odd exception, Cushendall’s consistency in the senior championship shows no signs of waning.
Sunday will be Delargy’s third decider as Cushendall’s main man and he has guided his team to the final unbeaten. A run that includes a comfortable win against Dunloy in the round robin. As reigning champions, they have coped well with the bulls-eye on their back this year and Delargy said that a lot of that comes from the squads desire and hunger: “Last year was parked as soon as we got the lads back together. We felt it wasn’t doing us any good to keep going on about it but the hunger was there in the lads to get going again.
“There wasn’t any pre-season as such. When the league started it was basically seeing who was fit and available when lining out. With the split season, we use it for preparing. Getting boys fitness levels back and maybe bringing through one or two others into the senior set up, looking at other lads who might have stepped up from the previous season.”
Cushendall’s win against Dunloy in the group stage at Páirc Mhuire ensured they would book their passage directly to the semi-final. It was the first time since this format’s inception that the Ruairi’s would go through a campaign unbowed and it’s fair to say they have impressed. They had to withstand a Rossa comeback and the Ballymena monsoon before accounting for the Cuchullains in their backyard and highlighting their credentials as county champions. It was a warning shot to the rest of the county but Delagry said they’ve been concentrating on the next fixture and the next fixture alone: “There was nothing about prioritising. We knew it was going to be three tough games but the way it’s scheduled, it works well for us. We had no other distractions in between our games and it allowed us to get ready.
“When you’re travelling to Rossa Park for a first round game, you know what you’re going to get. It’s never going to be easy. Once you get into the nitty gritty of the round robin, it’s about tailoring your way through it.”
On that Dunloy game, Delargy said: “We’ve been around long enough to know that there’s a huge difference between group stages and knockout championship hurling. The championship doesn’t really start until the knockout stage and you just have to look at the St John’s game for further evidence of that.”
That semi final against St John’s saw his side come back from the brink. They showed the infamous Cushendall trait of ‘mentality monsters’ and when Delargy spoke of that game, he gave a nod to those who stepped up to be counted when his side needed it: “We were obviously delighted to get through that game. When you consider we were four points down closing in on half time in extra time, it was a time for someone to step up and the boys turned it around well.
“It was a massive test and a test that we needed. That lads have learned from that and it’ll stand by us going into Sunday.”
It wasn’t exactly a flowing performance from the Ruairi’s and they had to dig deep into their reserves. Essentially though, semi finals are for winning and the Cushendall manager said he’s happy with where his squad are now: “There’s room for improvement but that’s no bad thing. It comes from the high standards and goals this group have set themselves. Some didn’t meet those standards, and others did. That was a pleasing aspect of the game. Hurling is a team sport and it took a team and panel effort to get us over the line.”
Delargy finished off by adding: “We both know each other well. The players probably know each other better than the managers do. It’s sounds like a cliché but it’ll come down to who wants it most on Sunday. With the weather forecast not giving great, it won’t be pretty and we’re under no illusions as to the task we have but the lads are ready for it.”
