SUCCESS has bred success in Slaughtneil and the Robert Emmet’s club begin their quest for three in-a-row in Ulster with a squad Michael McShane rates as the best he has assembled since he took the reins of the Derry champions eight years’ ago.
After completing 10 on-the-trot in their own county, Slaughtneil face Down champions Portaferry at Corrigan Park Belfast on Sunday eight weeks’ after they beat Kevin Lynch’s to extend their remarkable run in Derry.
Many of McShane’s players set down their hurls in the intervening period but since Slaughtneil’s defeat in the football final against Glen on October 23 they’ve been preparing for the challenge of Portaferry who came through a battle to reclaim the Down title from Ballycran, the side that dethroned them last year.
“10 in-a-row is just a number for us,” said McShane.
“We didn’t dwell too much on it and if we’d had a game the next week it wouldn’t have caused us a thought. It was nice to do but it’s just another championship and now we move on and we try to win another Ulster championship. The focus is always on the next hurdle and we have a big hurdle against Portaferry on Sunday.”
Slaughtneil and Portaferry have never met in the Ulster Club championship during McShane’s time in Derry. The Ardsmen last won the Ulster title back in 2014 when they beat a Cushendall team that had accounted for Slaughtneil at the semi-final stage.
“It’s a new challenge, a fresh challenge and we’re all looking forward to it,” said Ballycastle native McShane.
“I was at the Down final and a dog-fight is probably a good way to describe the game because the conditions were horrendous. Both teams played well and Portaferry dug deep when they lost Conor Mageean (sent off) and that showed their mettle and determination to win it and I was impressed with them.
“I was impressed with their hurling in such bad conditions and their set-up and their doggedness not to give in when they lost a player which some teams would do.”
Portaferry were Down champions in 2020 but, because of the Covid pandemic, there were no provincial championships that year. McShane’s men will go into Sunday’s semi-final as clear favourites to progress to a final against Dunloy but, like all good teams, they expect the very best of themselves, and from their opponents, every time they take the field.
“Portaferry are a big threat, the Down champions are always very difficult to beat,” said McShane.
“We found that out to our cost in 2018 when Ballycran beat us in the semi-final at Corrigan Park. So we don’t have to look too far back to remind ourselves that nothing is a given. You have to work for your wins and we’re going to do that on Sunday. We’re not looking any further than this game and, if we’re good enough to win it, we’ll look at the final.
“When you’re the team at the top you’ve always got a target on your back. Teams raise their performance levels when they’re playing against you and we’ll be seen as a big scalp to take. That’s life at the top and I’d rather be at the top looking down than the bottom looking up.
“We’re used to dealing with that and we’re diligent in the way we prepare and go about our business. We believe that if we play at the best of our game, nine times out of 10 we’re going to come out on top so we’re looking to perform at the very best Slaughtneil can do and it’ll be up to Portaferry to surpass that if they’re going to beat us.”
Apart from Jack Cassidy, who was injured last weekend, the Derry and Ulster champions will be at full strength for Sunday. ‘Full strength’ means more now, says McShane, than ever before.
“We have a lot of selections headaches thankfully,” he added.
“We have a lot of impetus from young lads coming into the panel and they are driving the more experienced lads on and pushing them for their places. I honestly believe the Slaughtneil panel is the strongest it’s been in the eight years I’ve been there.
“The standards are very high, the group demands that off each other and any young lads coming in – if they’ve got the skillset to survive they also need the right attitude and work ethic and the boys who have come in have that. We’re a stronger squad now than we’ve ever been.”
