Bathshack Antrim SHC final: Cushendall 1-16 Dunloy 2-12
ON an afternoon that balded what little was left on the trees, Cushendall reclaimed the trophy that they handed back to the county seven months ago.
The Volunteer Cup holders were under no obligation to return the silverware as early as March but they wanted to draw the line in the sand for themselves.
Last year was over. O’Loughlin Gaels was over. Slaughtneil was over. Loughgiel was over. Time to start over.
The fact that they hadn’t beaten Dunloy last year themselves left them with something still to prove.
When you win back-to-back titles, you’ve very little left to prove.
But rather than being driven by the hurt of last year’s All-Ireland semi-final or any chips on the shoulder, they just wanted to keep getting better.
“The standards,” said winning Ruairi Ógs boss Brian Delargy about what has propelled them since January.
“We just want to keep Cushendall back at the top. Last year we handed the cups back in March before the league started, we just wanted to keep our own standards rising.
“It was nothing about retaining cups or that, it was a new team, go again. The boys drive each other on and we drive them, and to be fair to them, they eat it all up.
“They just love improving the whole time, no matter what we do with them, strength and conditioning wise, running wise, hurling wise, they just want to get better. That’s just the kind of team they are.”
Everyone in Ballycastle was a bit surprised to be there. As Storm Ashley picked county finals off the schedule one by one, Antrim remained. They had consulted with emergency services in the build-up and when the weather warning was updated to amber at 10am, a final call was made.
The rains never really came to support a wind so strong that at one point, Cushendall goalkeeper Conor McAllister’s puckout travelled the entire length of the field and hit his opposite number Ryan Elliott square in the chest, the ball motoring at top speed.
There was magnanimity and agreement on both sides that the game probably shouldn’t have gone ahead. Dunloy weren’t sore about losing it because of the wind, Cushendall were happy to have won it, but both managers spoke sense over what it had done to the game.
“It was really, really tough,” said winning Ruairi Ógs boss Brian Delargy, referencing that McAllister puckout.
“I turned around to our selector and asked ‘was that a puckout or what happened there?’ because I couldn’t believe how fast [the sliotar] was still going on him.
“Even looking out there now, it’s a crazy day. There’ll probably not be many county finals played in that ever again.
“I thought [it would go ahead] when there was nothing last night. We were priming for it and to be honest, I didn’t want it called off then because you put so much into it and the boys are priming for it, they’re ready to go and if you have to reset again, you don’t know what way that builds into the next week, how to tailor the training.
“I was delighted it went ahead and I’m delighted now. I know it’s easy saying that when you’ve won.
“It was a tough day and I’m not sure if it is the right thing to have it today or not.”
Gregory O’Kane perhaps bit his tongue a bit on the depth of how he felt about it but wasn’t using it to take from Cushendall at all. Both sides got a half each with a wind that ripped hard down from the clubhouse end of McQuillan Park.
“You probably think now should the game have been played, there’s county finals off around the country,” said O’Kane.
“It’s just a pity because both teams don’t get to, you don’t get to see them express themselves and the wind becomes a lottery and the ball becomes a lottery. A break of a ball here and there is the difference.
“Fair play to Cushendall, they’d the same elements and they won the game. That’s the way.”