Dunloy will return to Croke Park for the All-Ireland Club SHC Final against Ballyhale on Sunday, January 22, but they’ll face an anxious wait to learn if one of their key defenders will be fit to feature.
Aaron Crawford has been a rock at the heart of the Dunloy rearguard all season and the sight of him coming off in the early stages of Sunday’s second half against St Thomas’ was a worrying one for manager Gregory O’Kane.
A dislocated shoulder was the early post-match fear and O’Kane says they’ll assess the full extent of Crawford’s injury in the coming days.
Read more: Recap as Dunloy stun St Thomas’ to reach All-Ireland Club Hurling final
“(We’re) not sure, the medics will assess him here this evening. Hopefully it is not too bad and we will see where we are at tomorrow,” said O’Kane.
“He (Crawford) took quite a heavy bang at the start of the second half, so we will get him assessed and, please God, he will not be too bad.”
The injury to Crawford was the only blight on an otherwise memorable day at Headquarters for the North Antrim club.
O’Kane's men booked their place in the All-Ireland final for the fifth time in their history thanks largely to a brilliant goal from Keelan Molloy in the second half.
The Galway champions were odds-on to win Sunday’s semi-final, but O’Kane said Dunloy’s Ulster Championship win over Slaughtneil has galvanised his squad.
“I knew coming in here today, we have good players and the forward line has got lightning pace. In somewhere like Croke Park, you still have to get the spaces,” said O’Kane.
“We started using the ball smart and we were always going to create. Hopefully then the boys take their chances on the day for us to get over the line.
“Croke Park is a special place. A club like Dunloy, our ambition is always to be here and play a game of that magnitude.
“That’s always been our goal, to get out of Ulster and represent ourselves and our club on the best stage in the world, and then bring our hurling to there.
“The Ulster final was massive for us, just to get over. Obviously we left a couple behind in the past, but we were delighted to get over the line the last day and then it is about getting the bodies repaired for today and, thank God, it worked out well.”
Sunday’s game didn't all go to plan for the Cuchullain’s - especially in the first half.
Conal Cunning, who finished with 0-7 to his credit, had a first half penalty saved by St Thomas’ goalkeeper Gerald Kelly while Nigel Elliott squandered a further goal-scoring chance before the break.
Yet, Dunloy didn’t panic and their composure in the second half was in stark contrast to that of the Galway men who registered 15 wides in total and were lucky to finish with 14 men after Darragh Burke raised his hurl against Ryan McGarry.
“Probably at that stage we were glad of half-time - we had done nothing wrong, only not take our chances when they were there and execute,” added O’Kane.
“It was about resetting at half-time and gathering our composure and getting set for the second half.
“There’s no doubt about it, it’s about taking your chances, especially when you are here and our defence was absolutely outstanding here today.
"The way they closed down attacks, our match-ups were fantastic and everyone put their shoulder to the wheel.”
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