Sport

Slaughtneil recover from slow start to beat Dunloy in Ulster hurling semi-final

Slaughtneil's Brendan Rogers celebrates his goal against Dunloy during the Ulster Club Senior Hurling Championship semi-final at Owenbeg on Sunday Picture by Margaret McLaughlin
Slaughtneil's Brendan Rogers celebrates his goal against Dunloy during the Ulster Club Senior Hurling Championship semi-final at Owenbeg on Sunday Picture by Margaret McLaughlin Slaughtneil's Brendan Rogers celebrates his goal against Dunloy during the Ulster Club Senior Hurling Championship semi-final at Owenbeg on Sunday Picture by Margaret McLaughlin

AIB Ulster Club Senior Hurling Championship semi-final: Robert Emmet’s, Slaughtneil (Derry) 1-18 Cuchullain’s, Dunloy (Antrim) 2-8

FOR the gripping opening 15 minutes in front of an astonishing crowd of over 6,000 people there looked like being only one winner, and it wasn’t Slaughtneil.

Dunloy stepped on to the pitch in Owenbeg at the same pace they’d left Ballycastle a few weeks ago, blitzing their way into a 1-4 to 0-1 lead.

Nigel Elliott raced on to a breaking ball and tore a hole down the right of the Emmet’s defence before firing brilliantly across Oisin O’Doherty after eight minutes.

It was all Dunloy, their crispness evident against Michael McShane’s side as the reigning champions struggled to find the gearbox.

The goal was a case in point, with both Gerald Bradley and Brendan Rogers putting loose touches on the sliotar that were punished in the most emphatic way.

Paul Shiels, who’d opened the scoring with a huge free, and Gabriel McTaggart added points and there were already six between the sides, and Slaughtneil had lost colossal full-back Sean Cassidy to injury.

The signs at that stage were that the gap would grow but then the Derry champions took off. They hit a stunning 1-8 on the bounce in 11 minutes, effectively Dunloying Dunloy, doing unto them as they had done to Cushendall in the Antrim decider.

It was led by Gerald Bradley and Chrissy McKaigue initially, while Cormac O’Doherty found his range on the frees after a shaky start.

Two efforts from him and one from Brendan Rogers with what effectively his first touch on 19 minutes cut the gap back to a goal, though Kevin Molloy deserves great credit for how he handled the Emmet’s dangerman throughout.

The Dunloy defence was tested and stood up to it well, with Phelim Duffin and James McKeague also playing notably well, but they never had anywhere close to the mastery the victors enjoyed at the other end.

Keelan Molloy was excellent for the Cuchullain’s, constantly probing with his pace, but he scored just once all day, as did Eoin O’Neill, who was well shackled by Paul McNeill.

Karl McKaigue lost the first ball to Conal Cunning and was barely bettered on a single tussle thereafter, the renowned corner-back turning in yet another magnificent man-marking display.

O’Doherty hit two points in quick succession and Sé McGuigan dropped over to level the game at 1-4 to 0-7 on 23 minutes, and by half-time the winners were five up.

Gerald Bradley hit an inspirational score from 90 metres and it was instantly followed by a Chrissy McKaigue effort every bit as good, taking off into a gallop and lacing over off his left side.

Then the daylight appeared when McKaigue again fired one into the sky and Brendan Rogers got up above Dunloy ‘keeper Ryan Elliott to flick into the net..

It was a remarkable turnaround to give Slaughtneil a 1-9 to 1-4 lead, with a late Paul Shiels free the only retaliatory jab landed in anger by Gregory O’Kane’s rocked side.

Both sides went off to a huge ovation after a frenetic and breathless half that had enough dashes of quality thrown in as well.

But the second half never quite hit the same levels of excitement as the south Derry men suffocated the game. Dunloy had chances to chip into their lead but their seven wides were too many.

Keelan Molloy hit the first score after the interval but it was almost 20 full minutes before their next white flag was lifted, by which stage Slaughtneil had added another four.

Nicky McKeague’s waspishness at midfield made a difference for Gregory O’Kane’s side but with Chrissy McKaigue cancelling out Paul Shiels and the Dunloy inside division getting no joy, it was only ever going to end one way from there.

The winners headed into injury-time nine clear before Shiels buried a rocket to the roof of the net from a 25-metre free, but it barely raised a ripple.

Frustrations boiled over at the death, with Conal Cunning sent off in stoppage time after a goalmouth skirmish that saw Chrissy McKaigue lose his helmet, but it wasn’t to taint an otherwise manly and physical affair.

To put the margin of victory into context, no Derry team had ever beaten an Antrim side in championship before last year’s decider, and here Slaughtneil are now getting over the line pulling up.

“The potential here is scary,” said Emmet’s boss Michael McShane.

“We had an average age today that was younger than Dunloy, and everybody has been talking about this young Dunloy team.

“These guys have a wile lot of maturing, a whole lot of growing and a whole lot of getting better to do.

“We know we came out of the Cuala game against a team that had been building for five or six years to peak at that performance level to win an All-Ireland.

“We know we were four or five years behind them and we are working towards that while also, trying to win an All-Ireland Football title.

“But look, we are not going to talk about All-Ireland. I have just told the boys, all we have won today is the right to play in an Ulster final.

“We have an Ulster final to win yet against Ballygalget. That will be another day and another very tough game.”

After the high of a first county title in eight years, yesterday let a bit of air out of Dunloy’s balloon but this was only a first step. We’ll be seeing plenty more of them in October for years to come, you’d think.

“Probably today, if I am being honest, was a game too far,” admitted Gregory O’Kane.

“We hit such highs in the Antrim Championship, and you can only peak about what, four or five times in the year. So maybe today the game came too early.

“We just didn’t have the same energy levels that we would have had. Slaughtneil are a fantastic team. In terms of physicality, maybe we need to get there in terms of that.”

Now that Slaughtneil have found their way to the top of the mountain, it looks like they’ll be hard to dispose of.

Slaughtneil: O O’Doherty; K McKaigue, Shane McGuigan, P McNeill; M McGrath, S Cassidy, C McAllister; G Bradley (0-1), C McKaigue (0-1); M McGuigan, S Ó Casaide, B Rogers (1-2); Sé McGuigan (0-1), B Cassidy (0-2), C O’Doherty (0-11, 0-7 frees, 0-1 65)

Subs: C McKenna for S Cassidy (11), G O’Kane for Ó Casaide (35)

Yellow cards: S Ó Casaide (3), C McKenna (17), B Rogers (43), P McNeill (48), Shane McGuigan (61)

Dunloy: R Elliott; P Duffin, J McKeague, P Shivers; K McKeague, C McKinley, K Molloy; C Elliott, P Shiels (1-4 frees), N Elliott (1-0), G McTaggart (0-1), K Molloy (0-1); E O’Neill (0-1), A Dooey, C Cunning

Subs: N McKeague (0-1f) for C Elliott (h-t), C Brogan for Dooey (39), S Dooey for McTaggart (42), E Smyth for Shivers (50)

Yellow cards: S Dooey (60), C Brogan (61)

Red card: C Cunning (62)

Referee: J Clarke (Cavan)

Attendance: 6,142