Hurling & Camogie

No pressure on Ballycastle ahead of Antrim final - McAuley

Ballycastle star Neal McAuley says there is no pressure on the McQuillan's ahead of the Antrim hurling final 
Ballycastle star Neal McAuley says there is no pressure on the McQuillan's ahead of the Antrim hurling final  Ballycastle star Neal McAuley says there is no pressure on the McQuillan's ahead of the Antrim hurling final 

BALLYCASTLE'S Neal McAuley says there is no pressure on his side as they go into Sunday’s Antrim Senior Hurling Championship final with Cushendall.

It will be the McQuillan’s first appearance in the decider in 14 years - they haven’t won it since 1986 - but the Antrim star says, with most expecting them to lose, Ballycastle can play with freedom.

“It’s difficult because none of the players have experienced it [a senior final] and they won’t know what to expect," said McAuley. 

"In a sense, there is no real pressure on us because we weren’t expected to even get to the final. We can go out and play with a bit of freedom and see where it takes us and, if we lose the final, nobody expects us to win it anyway.

“The players are well aware of the history. Obviously, none of us remember the last time we won the championship because 99 per cent of us weren’t born, so we’re not quite aware of what it would mean. We’re just concentrating on the next game and we’re not trying to think about what would happen if we won. We’re just trying to make sure we get a performance on Sunday.”

A superb comeback victory over Dunloy in the semi-final, where Ballycastle were four points down at the break, has set them up for the final and McAuley admits Cushendall will be another step up.

“In the first half [against Dunloy], we were playing against the wind and we were four points down at the break and we just thought ‘let’s go out and empty the tank in the second half and see where it gets us’,” he added.

“Usually, we would lie down whenever we are behind, but the lads showed great character and we pushed on, which was good to see. But obviously, Cushendall is another step up and another massive test and it will be interesting to see if we can do the same again.

“We’ve had potential over the last few years, but we just haven’t converted it into match-winning performances,” McAuley said.

“I still think we’re a very raw team, we’re still very young and perhaps naïve and we’re definitely not at the level of a seasoned Cushendall team. They’re two or three years in development ahead of us. We’re just starting to climb the ladder, but we have potential there, there is no doubt about it. It’s just a matter of putting the performance on the pitch.

“Hopefully, the younger players in the club will see us getting to the final and that will give them aspirations of getting to finals themselves. It’s all about the domino effect of getting to the final and, if we could get there every year, that would be the end goal, but there is an awful lot of hard work involved.”