Ulster SHC

NOEL Sands would not be in favour of a hasty resurrection of the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship and linked its viability to the Casement Park rebuild.

MEEHAUL McGrath needs no reminding of the connection his own county had with the Ulster Championship long before it was placed into cold storage.

FOR the fourth year running Ballycran and Portaferry will face off for the right to bring the Jeremiah McVeagh Cup home – but the lure of an Ulster final crack at Dunloy or Slaughtneil is an added incentive for both, insists Ports boss Gary Smyth.

SLAUGHTNEIL showed they can mix it with anyone when they went toe-to-toe with eventual All-Ireland champions Ballyhale Shamrocks in January – and Brendan Rogers admits he is excited about what the future holds for the Emmet’s.

KARL McKaigue says there is more to the Slaughtneil hurlers than brawn and believes the cynics will have to respect the Derry champions now for winning three of the last four Ulster titles.

Slaughtneil hurling boss Michael McShane didn’t have to think too long about where yesterday’s emphatic Ulster Club Championship final victory over fancied Dunloy ranked.

DUNLOY’S Keelan Molloy says they are “hungrier than ever” and “more experienced” than two years ago as the Cuchullains prepare for another assault on the Ulster Club SHC title later this month.

ONE more trip to the well proved to be beyond Slaughtneil as underdogs Ballycran deservedly dethroned the back-to-back Ulster champions at Corrigan Park on Sunday.

AIB Ulster Club Senior Hurling Championship semi-final: Slaughtneil (Derry) v Ballycran (Down) (tomorrow, Corrigan Park, 2.