WITH one double already done, Slaughtneil hurling manager Michael McShane has set sights on pushing the boundaries even further.
The south Derry club's men achieved dual senior success in Ulster last year, and their hurlers retained their title on Sunday, so the Ballycastle man is now looking towards All-Ireland triumphs.
"I remember a few years ago people said that to win the double in Derry was impossible. Then Slaughtneil did it.
"Then they said 'They'll never do a double in Ulster, that would be pushing it too far'. Then Slaughtneil did it.
"So people are saying now it would be totally impossible to do an All-Ireland double – Slaughtneil are well used to breaking records, so why not break that one?"
McShane is well aware how tough it will be for the Emmet's even to reach the All-Ireland Club Hurling Final, given that their semi-final opponents will be the Munster champs, namely one of the following clubs: Na Piarsaigh (Limerick), Ballygunner (Waterford), Thurles Sarsfield's (Tipperary), Blackrock (Cork), or Sixmilebridge (Clare).
"So it'll be an easy team I would say," laughs McShane.
"No, there'll be no easy game in an All-Ireland semi-final, we're going to be looking at whoever comes out of Munster. The Munster championship is only really kicking off, so we'll get a good look at it. It's a nice smattering of tough teams, you know…
"We'll give it our best shot. That's the one thing about Slaughtneil: we'll fear nobody, we'll respect everybody, and we'll go and give it everything we have."
Some have suggested he would want the club's footballers to lose sooner rather than later, in order to allow focus solely on hurling by their many dual players, but he refutes that idea completely:
"No, people might think that's the way it is, but we don't want that because winning, and the momentum that brings, is incredible. That's a bigger benefit to us than the guys getting more stick-work.
"We'll get as much stick-work as we need, if the guys [footballers] go on and we're both going to All-Ireland semi-finals. The momentum and the togetherness from winning is fantastic.
"So, no, we will be rowing in behind the footballers. They have single focus now, they can go and win it."
Maybe. And maybe even more.
