BRIAN Delargy is full of admiration for Dunloy’s dual ambitions – but admits he is glad to only have hurling to worry about.
The Cushendall boss, in his sixth campaign at the helm, leads his club into Sunday’s Antrim SHC decider against the Cuchullain’s, determined to lift the Volunteer Cup for the third time in four years.
Dunloy, meanwhile, were the dominant force in Antrim hurling around the turn of the decade, reeling off four titles in-a-row between 2019 and 2022.
However, they haven’t hit those same heights in recent years, with an upturn in their footballing fortunes leaving several members of a talented squad balancing both codes.
In 2023 they reached a first Antrim football final since 1991, before returning to the same stage two years later to land the Padraig MacNamee Cup.
However, their defence of that crown was ended by eventual champions St Brigid’s at the semi-final stage, leaving all eyes on hurling heading to Pairc MacQuillan on Sunday.
There, Shane Elliott and Liam Richmond’s men meet a Cushendall side whose sole focus has been on the caman code - and Delargy insists it is a “headache” he is glad to do without.
“We find it hard to master the hurling, never mind trying to master the two of them.
“I tip my hat to the likes of Keelan Molloy - he’s probably one of the top footballers in the county. He’s definitely one of the top hurlers in the county.
“That’s no mean feat for any athlete. Them boys see themselves as athletes, they want to be the best, and he’s probably the best I’ve in everything he’s trying to do.
“Fair play to Shane [Elliott] and ‘Nancy’ [Richmond] trying to manage that, along with the Dunloy football management… I can just imagine that would be a headache.
“It’s nice to see it in a way - but I’m happy enough not having to deal with it.”
Part of that, too, is the championship format, which is designed to accomodate dual clubs.
“It works well for us because we’re only a single code club, so we have every fortnight.
“The group stages, if you win one game, you’re probably through into the quarter-final. But we do try and build it then, as it goes along.
“A couple of years ago we were in a really tough group, so you had to be further along the line in your preparation to get into the quarter-final than maybe we had to be this year.”
Cushendall and Dunloy have already met in this year’s championship, when the Cuchullain’s left Páirc Mhuire with a six-point victory in their final Group Two game.
Conal Cunning top scored that day with 0-13, but it was Keelan Molloy’s goal that proved the pivotal moment, coming at a time when Cushendall looked to be getting on top.
The stakes are upped significantly on Sunday, though, and Delargy feels Dunloy “probably do set the standard at that stage in the championship”.
“We know the strength of Dunloy, we had them in the group stage as well when they beat us down on our own pitch. We know how good of hurlers they have.
“But it’s not until you get to the knockout that it really matters and it’s all on the line. That’s when you find out where you’re at.
“The Ballycastle game [in the quarter-final] helped us before we went in to play Loughgiel, and I hope the game against Loughgiel is going to stand to us coming into the Dunloy game because it’s just a battle… it really matters how much you want it.
“Our boys stood up to it then, so I hope that stands to us for Dunloy.”
With Paddy Burke sidelined after going under the knife to try and resolve a long-standing hip injury, and experienced men like Eoghan Campbell and Neil McManus used sparingly in the early games, Delargy has been able to get more championship game-time into young legs.
And he feels the manner in which the U21 side – captained by Joe McLaughlin - retained their county crown in August, just as the senior championship was about to get under way, has been a major boost to the Ruairis.
“A lot of them came into the group last year and got some senior championship time but this year, I think the U21 championship, just after the league finished and before the senior championship started, gave them a lot of confidence.
“With young players, it takes a wee while for it to click. They all want to be senior hurlers. It’s alright wanting to be a senior hurler, but you have to go out and do a lot of stuff away from that.
“It seemed to click with a lot of the ones that got the U21 and then into the senior. They’ve been building nicely and it gives them confidence too that they’re winning games - and tough games as well.”
