'I'm looking for a bit more' — Back-to-back Ulster titles whets Slaughtneil appetite
FAMILY AFFAIR: Slaughtneil brothers Shane, left, and Mark McGuigan celebrate with their dad Christopher after the AIB Ulster GAA Hurling Senior Club Championship final match between Slaughtneil of Derry and St John's of Antrim at BOX-IT Athletic Grounds in Armagh. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Slaughtneil made it a sixth Ulster title with a convincing win over St John’s of Antrim on Saturday night in Armagh. It takes the Derry Kingpins into joint second place with Ballycastle the roll of honour.
Paul McCormack’s side will now face Galway champions Loughrea as they aim to secure a first ever All-Ireland final berth.
The 10 points from Cormac O’Doherty was one part of the equation but their defence gave the security at the back.
St John’s relied on Oisin MacManus for scores and ended with 14 men after Oisin Donnelly’s dismissal late on.
Fionn McEldowney did an excellent job on Conor Johnston with Cathal Ó Mianain, in his first year of senior hurling, shackling Shea Shannon. Chrissy McKaigue hit two points in the final quarter to apply the finish with Sé McGuigan’s two scores the reward for an excellent performance.
St John’s played Conall Bohill as marker on Brendan Rogers and stationed Ciaran Johnston as a sweeper. At the other end, Ruairí Ó Mianáin, Shane McGuigan and Paul McNeill all rotated as the extra man. Donal Carson was the one bright spark but Conor McAllister still came out on top in the battle.
“I'm happy but I'm looking for a bit more as well and I think there's more in us,” Slaughtneil manager Paul McCormack said after the game.
“I think the players will feel there's a few scoring opportunities we left behind us. I am delighted for the men, the sacrifices that they make, their families, the backroom team and for the people of Slaughtneil.
“To do back-to-back Ulster Championships is not an easy thing to do and they've done that again with a new generation, in some respects, from the team of 2016 and ’17.”
St John’s had the ball over the bar in the opening seconds with the first of five MacManus first-half points. When Ryan McNulty was blown for too long, Shéa Cassidy levelled the game before Sé McGuigan fired over a long ball from Shane McGuigan wasn’t cleared.
Both teams were playing with an extra man at the back and it was Slaughtneil’s defence who closed out the Johnnies’ threat.
MacManus hit all their scores, with their first from play coming two minutes before the break.
The score of a scrappy half came from Shane McGuigan, after Sé McGuigan and Eamon Cassidy’s build-up play and the Derry champions led 0-9 to 0-5 at the break.
It was point for point early in the second half with St John’s unable to back up a score before a second Rogers point put Slaughtneil 0-12 to 0-7 ahead. Three more O’Doherty frees eased the champions into a 0-16 to 0-8 with 11 minutes to play. O’Doherty, McKaigue and substitute Proinsias Burke all added scores to cement a commanding win.
“We can provide them with information, we can look after them, we can guide them, but ultimately they are the boys who go and perform,” McCormack added of his team.
“They're just a brilliant bunch of men who are a credit themselves and I hope they really soak in this achievement because it's not until they finish playing when they realise what they've done and the standards they've set."
Saturday brought down the curtain on a memorable season for St John’s but it was a disappointing end after winning a first Antrim title since 1973.
“It wouldn’t be as disappointing if we had played the way we can play, but we didn’t turn up,” said St John’s manager Gerard Cunningham. “Fair dues to Slaughtneil, it shows you the standard we needed to get to be Ulster champions and we just weren’t at that standard today. They put us under a lot of pressure, sussed us out and took our game-plan away from us. It’s a tough one to take.
“It’s been a great journey. The lads deserved to win the Antrim Championship, but this is disappointing.
“It’ll probably take us a day or two to get rid of this disappointment before we can really think back on the journey we’ve went through in the championship.”
C O’Doherty 0-10 (9f), Shéa Cassidy 0-3 (2f), Sé McGuigan, B Rogers, Chrissy McKaigue 0-2 each, Shane McGuigan, C Ó Mianáin, E Cassidy and P Burke 0-1 each
O MacManus 0-9 (7f) and S Wilson 0-1
O O’Doherty; P McNeill, C McAllister; C O’Doherty; R Ó Mianáin, F McEldowney, Shane McGuigan; C Ó Mianáin, M McGrath; M McGuigan, Sé McGuigan, B Rogers; E Cassidy; Shéa Cassidy, Chrissy McKaigue
J McGuigan for Shéa Cassidy (40), P McCullagh for E Cassidy (52), C Coyle for McGrath (55), G Bradley for Sé McGuigan (58), P Burke for Chrissy McKaigue (60)
D Nugent; R McNulty, J Bohill; Ciaran Johnston; C Morgan, P McCallin, E McGurk C Bohill; S Wilson, A Bradley; O Donnelly, Conor Johnston, S Shannon; O Mac Manus, D Carson
M Bradley for A Bradley (45), C Hanna for McCallin (57), M Dudley for Carson (60)
P Owens (Down)
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