Ulster Club SHC final: Slaughtneil (Derry) v Dunloy (Antrim)
(Sunday, Athletic Grounds, 1.30pm)
After winning 10 Derry hurling titles in succession and four Ulster titles since 2016, Cormac O’Doherty has fired out a startling warning to provincial rivals Dunloy - Slaughtneil still have room for improvement.
Given that they won their Ulster SHC semi-final against Down champions Portaferry by 19 points, that’s quite a statement from the Slaughtneil captain.
On Sunday, they’ll bid for a fifth Ulster title in six attempts with Antrim kingpins Dunloy standing in their way at the Athletic Grounds in what is a repeat of the 2019 final and last year’s semi-final meeting at the same venue.
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After gaining huge plaudits for their All-Ireland semi-final performances against Ballyhale and Ballygunner in recent seasons, Slaughtneil are determined to return to the last four of the All-Ireland series once more.
“When you get a taste of winning, it is nice and we’ve been fairly successful for the guts of a decade now and we don’t want to let it go too handy,” said O’Doherty.
“We know we’ll not always be successful as a team and as a club. We want to make the most of it when we can.
“We think, as a team, we’re on an upward curve and can only get better. That’s the aim and we have to do that again on Sunday.
“We’ve been competitive on the national stage and would love to be back there, but our full focus is on Sunday.”
On the 19-point rout of Portaferry, O’Doherty added: “We weren’t sure what to expect as it was six weeks since our own county final against Kevin Lynch’s.
“We were slow to start, slow to get into it in the first 15 minutes. Portaferry were up for it. From then on, we were very happy with the performance and a good result to go with it.”
O’Doherty scored seven frees in last season’s semi-final win over Dunloy and nine in last month’s facile victory over Portaferry.
Mickey McShane’s men also had eight points to spare in the 2019 decider over Dunloy while seven points separated the champions of Derry and Antrim in 2017’s Ulster semi-final.
Despite keeping Dunloy at arm’s length in recent times, O’Doherty feels the teams are evenly matched ahead of Sunday’s rematch.
“Both teams know each other inside out, even going back to Ulster Minor days in Ballinascreen,” said the Slaughtneil skipper.
“It’s been small margins the last few times we’ve played them and thankfully we’ve been on the right side of them.
"We’ve had that extra few per cent in the past and hopefully, we have that again on Sunday.”
Read next:
- Mixed injury news for Antrim champions Dunloy ahead of Slaughtneil showdown
- Liatroim out to break Ulster duck against two-time champions Middletown
Antrim hurling star Neil McManus opens up on retirement thoughts
Damian Casey could have graced any team in Ireland says Tyrone boss Mickey McShane
Derry captain Chrissy McKaigue thinks about retirement "every day" as his peers call it quits
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