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.    

It is eight years since Cushendall and Slaughtneil met in an Ulster final, and what a classic it was. Played in the Athletic Grounds in Armagh it took extra time to separate two evenly matched teams. Slaughtneil appeared to have gained the upper hand when they led at half time in extra time, but ‘Dall’s never say die attitude, which saw them through in some tough games that year, got them over the line once again. Wee John appeared a little miffed when Arron Graffin received the cup from Ulster president Michael Hasson, but he soon put that to right when he got his hands on the Four Seasons Cup for another time.

Here we use Andy Watters report from the Irish New from Monday 26^th October 2015

Ruairi Og, Cushendall (Antrim) 1-24 Robert Emmet’s, Slaughtneil (Derry) 3-17 (aet) 

WHAT a game this was. Nip and tuck and toe-to-toe from first whistle to last as the sides threw everything they had at each 
other.

Everything was left on the pitch but after 80 pulsating minutes it was the Cushendall fans who invaded it with broad smiles on their faces after their favourites emerged with a one-point win to take the Four Seasons Cup for the first time since 2008.

It was impossible not to feel for Slaughtneil who displayed extraordinary courage and character in the club’s 13th senior fixture in 11 gruelling weeks. They had held a two-point lead going into the second period of extra-time, but Cushendall found the energy to sprint for the line and crush their dreams of Ulster glory.

The Ruairi Ogs began the game well too and Neil McManus gave them an early lead with two points (one a free). But Slaughtneil set the pattern for the game by quickly getting back on terms thanks to the first of Cormac O’Doherty’s nine points from placed balls followed by and instinctive strike from Michael Kearney.

However, the Antrim men had the edge at that stage and another McManus free and two from play from the experienced Karl McKeegan left daylight between the sides.

O’Doherty pulled one back but Cushendall surged ahead once more and when McManus nailed his second from play they led 0-8 to 0-3 and were looking comfortable.

Slaughtneil tore the initiative from them in the final five minutes of the half. Chrissy McKaigue inspired their comeback with two points and then punted the ball into the Cushendall square.

Eoin Gillan batted it away but Brendan Rodgers, who was well shackled by Arron Graffin, came flying through the air to volley his clearance back into the net. Two more O’Doherty frees meant the Emmet’s led 1-7 to 0-8 at the interval. 

He added another free just after the restart to leave his side three ahead but this time it was Cushendall’s turn to come roaring back thanks to two more frees from McManus and a Donal McNaughton point. 

It was breathless stuff. Slaughtneil broke from the puck-out and Gareth O’Kane pulled on the sliothair after David Kearney failed to clear and the ball ended up in the back of the Cushendall net.

The Antrim men didn’t panic though and again McManus showed a calm head from a placed ball and then Shane McNaughton conjured up one of the scores of the game from the left wing.

O’Doherty squeezed over another free but the action raced to the other end and Christy McNaughton showed his class when he blocked down an attempted clearance by Oisin O’Doherty, left a defender on the seat of his pants and swept the sliothar into the net.

Rodgers equalised but a monster effort from Eoghan Campbell and a second point for Shane McNaughton, now operating to good effect at full-forward, meant his side led 1-15 to 2-10 as the game entered the crucial final 10 minutes.

Inevitably Slaughtneil rallied once more and Brian Cassidy gave Aidan McNaughton the slip and drilled the ball past Eoin Gillan. Christy McNaughton and Oisin O’Doherty swapped scores and the nerveless McManus edged his side into the lead as the seconds ticked away.

Cushendall needed to hold on to possession, but they couldn’t and O’Doherty fired over another free to level it at 3-12 to 1-18 after Campbell had dragged down O’Kane.

The referee blew it up from the puck-out and the sides gathered themselves for 20 minutes’ of extra-time. The consensus was that extra-time would be hardest on Slaughtneil given their hectic schedule but they quickly proved otherwise. 

McManus had sent Cushendall ahead but the other three scores in the first 10 minutes all came from Slaughtneil sticks – Cassidy, O’Doherty and O’Kane were all on target.

Just like the first half, the Derry men probably didn’t want the period to end and went it did they had a two-point lead and must have hoped it would be enough to see them over the line. 

It wasn’t. Donal McNaughton clipped over a sideline and Sean McAfee levelled. O’Doherty briefly had Slaughtneil back in front but McManus immediately cancelled it out and Conor Carson made his first telling contribution with a superb strike to restore his side’s lead.

McManus’s 13th point widened the gap but of course Slaughtneil refused to give up. Rodgers clawed one back and then Gillan was forced to rush off his line to block as Mark McGuigan had a sniff of a match-winning goal.

The sliothar was scrambled away and O’Doherty sent his sideline puck wide. It was cruel on him and cruel on his club because referee James Clarke blew it up from the puck out. 

Cushendall’s delight lit up the evening gloom while Slaughtneil’s disappointment matched it. The Antrim men march on to the All-Ireland series while Derry’s Emmet’s will hope for better luck next year.

2014 Ulster Club Hurling semi-final at Fr Healy Park, Loughgiel

Cushendall 2-10 Slaughtneill 0-10

The previous year it took two games to seperate the sides after they had drawn their semi-final game at Ownebeg first time around. Loughgiel was the venue when they met in the replay when a goal in each half proved the difference in the two sides. For a long time it looked like the Ruairis would rue a series of missed chances when wind assisted in the first half, but just before the break Kark McKeegan ghosted in behind the Emmet’s defence to fire home from close range. In the second half Cushendall were under pressure for long periods but Neill McManus settled it all with a goal from a penalty to send them through to a final meeting with Portaferry.