AFTER the turn of the last decade, it was Dunloy who had to wait in the wings while the noisy neighbours swept the board in Antrim and Ulster, watching Liam Watson shoot the Shamrocks to All-Ireland glory a particularly tough day for Cuchullain’s die-hards.
The cyclical nature of Antrim hurling’s order of command is such that nothing can ever last forever. For the past four years, it is Gregory O’Kane’s men who have grabbed hold of the Volunteer Cup and refused to let go.
A long-awaited Ulster title was added when Slaughtneil were finally slayed, the All-Ireland crown remaining elusive – for now - following January’s Croke Park disappointment.
Sharing a workplace with plenty of Dunloy supporters in Creagh concrete, and a dressing room with a chunk of the Cuchullain’s starting 15 with Antrim, James McNaughton admits looking over the fence at such success has been far from easy.
“Look, we’re massive rivals and if you see your rival winning, it’s not the greatest sight in the world,” he said.
“I work with a couple of them down at Creagh, whenever they first won the championship I was in the same office as Eoin O’Neill so there was a bit of craic, now it’s mostly just supporters I’m working with.
“There’s always that wee added incentive when you’re playing Dunloy because you’re so close to them.”
In Ballycastle on Sunday, McNaughton and Loughgiel have the opportunity to burst the Dunloy bubble as their north Antrim rivals fight for senior championships on two fronts having advanced to the football final.
And while the Cuchullain’s ride the crest of a wave, Loughgiel are still in the process of shaping a new side ready to compete in the years to come. The evidence at underage, where a slew of titles have been accrued, points towards a bright future.
But when stalwarts such as Eddie and Tony McCloskey exited the stage last year, it left a gap for the likes of McNaughton to fill – and it is a role the 26-year-old has wholeheartedly embraced.
“It’s clear to see that we have a lot of young players breaking through, but if the management didn’t believe in them, and the players didn’t believe in each other, they wouldn’t take the field.
“The young lads in our team have experienced success all through their life, which is a great omen for us. It feels like the blink of an eye since I was coming onto the panel, now I’d be seen as one of the senior lads now.
“It’s up to the rest of us now to step up and take that leadership mantle on… it’s a different feeling, a different experience, but one that’s thoroughly enjoyable.”
And they have already shown they are made of stern stuff.
At the start of the month a Neil McManus masterclass helped Cushendall to a 15-point championship victory over Loughgiel at Healy Park.
The fall-out from those days can only go one of two ways, but the Shamrocks responded in impressive fashion with an emphatic victory over St John’s to seal their semi-final spot.
“The Cushendall game, I’ll be brutally honest, I didn’t see that coming at all,” says McNaughton.
“Neil hit form that day and he was pretty unmarkable to be fair to him – he finished up with 4-9, which is unheard of in championship games like that.
“Obviously there was a bit of a lull after that, a lot of questions needed answered, but we knew we were better than what we’d shown, and thankfully we showed that the next day.”
