Leadon Timberframe Derry Senior Hurling Championship semi-final: Slaughtneil v Kevin Lynch’s (tomorrow, 3.30pm, Ballinascreen)
HAVING won back-to-back Ulster titles, Slaughtneil manager Michael McShane says giving most of his first-teamers an extended break has left them stronger now than ever.
Following their All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Na Piarsaigh in February, the south Derry side took most of the next five months off from league duty.
McShane played his fringe players through both the league proper, and the separate mid-season league in Derry which is played without county players, and the Ballycastle native feels that the progression of the likes of Ruairi McCartney, Liam Cassidy and Prionsias Burke have justified that call.
They still won the league, returning their heavy hitters for the final title-deciding game against Kevin Lynch’s, which the Emmet’s won by 2-15 to 0-10.
The sides meet tomorrow afternoon in Ballinascreen with the Dungiven men aiming to take back the summit, having won seven out of nine between 2003 and 2011.
Slaughtneil surpassed their ’06 to ‘09 four-in-a-row last year and will this summer seek to match the Lynches’ longest run of six on the trot between 1972 and ’77.
Geoffrey McGonigle will no doubt feel that Slaughtneil are vulnerable, with Brendan Rogers still sidelined with a complicated foot injury and Gerald Bradley a major doubt after suffering a calf strain last weekend, although he’s been responding to treatment and could still play some part.
It was Bradley who ran that league meeting back in August, while Kevin Lynch’s were without key men Paddy Kelly and Mark Craig, who’ll both be available tomorrow afternoon.
“We made the decision after the All-Ireland semi-final to play our extended panel throughout the league and right through to the end,” says McShane of their recuperation and preparation.
“You’re hoping you’re coming out at the end of it with another three or four players who have progressed enough to challenge the guys who’d be seen as regulars on the first 15.
“And we have had three or four lads who have stepped up and made great strides, in terms of their conditioning and their impact on the field. I’d feel we’re now a stronger panel than even we were last year.
“The start of July we got together again, got the hurling sticks out and started cranking it up a bit through August.
“Once the draw was made against Kevin Lynch’s [after they beat Swatragh in the quarter-final], there was a buzz there that now we have a game and a tough opponent to focus on.
“That’s our All-Ireland final, our Ulster final, our Derry final, because if we don’t win this everything else is irrelevant. We’re up for it on Sunday, and we’ll not be found wanting.”
The beginning of Slaughtneil’s cycle of success coincided with the end of Kevin Lynch’s, who have lost veterans like Ciaran Herron and Eoighin Farren to retirement, as well as recent cruciate victim Kevin Hinphey.
Of the side that played Slaughtneil a month ago, only goalkeeper Brian Lagan and full-back line members Liam Hinphey and Donal Kelly would have experienced the old regular success of a decade ago.
But the one thing about Kevin Lynch’s is that they don’t fear Slaughtneil. It took a goal from Gareth O’Kane – now converted as their goalkeeper – seven minutes into stoppage time to win the 2014 final, and Slaughtneil needed extra-time to fend off their north Derry rivals by a single point the following year.
They haven’t met in championship hurling since as Banagher have taken advantage of their neighbours’ rebuilding phase, but with the likes of John and Richie Mullan, Odhrán McKeever and Corey O’Reilly having come through off a bit of underage success, there is a sense that Kevin Lynch’s are coming strong again.
“Kevin Lynch’s are going out on Sunday to play not only the Derry champions, but the Ulster champions. And the way they’ll see it is if they can beat Slaughtneil, what’s to stop them going on to win the Ulster championship?” says McShane.
“That’s what their psyche would be, and it’s the same for any other team that meets us.
“The exact same with Banagher or Lavey or whoever. Everybody knows when you’re at the top, you’re there to be knocked off your perch.
“Getting to the top is difficult but it’s even more difficult to stay there. You have to retain the hunger and desire to go and win it. Teams that haven’t won it will always have that desire because they want something they don’t have.
“I think the lads have that. The Slaughtneil lads have a great ability to renew their energy and go again, year in, year out and still retain the hunger.
“They never seem to wane. I think that hunger will be there again on Sunday, because they’ll need it.”
