FORMER Antrim hurling managers Kevin Ryan and Dominic McKinley believe Dunloy are in with a great chance of upsetting the odds for a third time in a row this season as they aim to take down All-Ireland red-hot favourites Ballyhale Shamrocks in Sunday’s showpiece decider at Croke Park.
Ballyhale are a staggering 1/10 to win their third All-Ireland title in four seasons, while the Antrim and Ulster champions are at an enticing 13/2 to lift their first-ever All-Ireland.
Kevin Ryan, who’s been managing Kilkenny outfit Clara for the last number of seasons, has had a worm’s eye view of Ballyhale in three meetings with the Kilkenny kingpins this year.
The Waterford native said: “Ballyhale have something about them this year that they didn’t have last year. And yet, at the start of the year, a lot of people in Kilkenny were writing them off because they were going to be missing six or seven players – players were either retiring or going away – but all of a sudden they got one or two back.
“A couple of things happened in the whole Ballyhale parish that kind of brought them together a bit more and on top of that you could see they had Ballygunner in their sights all year, you could sense that.”
Aiming for three-in-a-row last season, Ballyhale were caught by Ballygunner in the All-Ireland final but avenged that defeat before Christmas at the semi-final stages.
Ryan insists that Gregory O’Kane’s men aren’t facing anything like a mission impossible ahead of Sunday’s final.
“The only thing I would say is Ballyhale sometimes are not the most consistent team out there. I thought St Thomas’s would come really close this year, I really did, but once Dunloy won Ulster, the shackles came off and they let loose. I definitely feel they’ll be absolutely in the game.
“I do think they’ll get their chance. It’s whether they can take it or not.
“If the real Ballyhale turn up on the day, it’s hard to see any team beating them. They’ve seven or eight individuals who are as good as what there is in the country.
“They come from a small parish and are so determined. The one thing about them is they are so tactically aware.
“You hear people saying Kilkenny hurlers don’t have tactics – they’re just maybe good at the tactics they have. People tell you they just launch the ball in and they win their own ball.
“Anybody thinks that they haven’t a hope. They have so much faith and confidence in their own system – but the day their system breaks down they’re in bother. So, I do think Dunloy will get a sniff of it. I certainly hope they do. I’ve nothing against Ballyhale but I’d absolutely love to see Dunloy winning it.”
Meanwhile, Dominic McKinley, who won an All-Ireland Club with Loughgiel Shamrocks, has his son – Conor – on the fringes of the Dunloy panel.
Conor suffered a bad shoulder injury and Sunday’s final may have come a few weeks too early despite Darren Gleeson giving the big defender some game-time in a recent McGurk Cup game, at the request of Dunloy boss O’Kane.
McKinley would have been tailor-made for Ballyhale’s imposing full-forward Colin Fennelly - but Dunloy will have to find another marking option.
McKinley senior insists Dunloy have a “great opportunity” to write themselves into the history books this weekend given how well they’ve utilised the underdog tag in their last two outings.
“They weren’t supposed to beat Slaughtneil, they weren’t supposed to beat St Thomas’s. I think there are years for you and you have to be ready. When an opportunity presents itself you’ve got to be good enough to take it,” said McKinley.
“Dunloy are up against a fabulous team – the Real Madrid of hurling – they have great tradition like no other club. But if you reflect back to last season, St Thomas’s had them to the pin of their collar. Ballygunnar beat them by a goal.
“Dunloy have players in certain areas that can hurt them. So the tactical side of this game is going to be key.
“Dunloy have a lot of pace up front and they have a lot of natural scorers. If they can get on the ball, they can do damage but they must win their individual battles.”
