THE moments after a game like Sunday’s Ulster club SHC final can scramble the senses a bit.
Jack Cassidy stood near the midway mark at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds, surrounded by familiar faces as family and friends headed his direction seconds after another epic battle put Sleacht Néill back on top. Yet still he was lost in his own world.
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A fortnight earlier it was Cushendall, the semi-final played out before RTE cameras, an unrelenting, thrill-a-minute clash that wasn’t settled until the end of a frenetic extra-time period.
It looked as though the same might happen again, Portaferry romping into an early lead, one that had stretched out to eight points heading towards the final quarter. Sleacht Néill were trying to muster momentum of any kind – something to give them a kick.
Then it arrived, in spectacular fashion, two goals in two minutes from Se McGuigan and Shea Cassidy tilting the switch their way. Out-thought and out-fought for most of the game – but not when it really mattered.
Towering midfielder Cassidy – whose stunning late point helped push them over the line - watched as captain Mark McGuigan overcame a few technical issues with the Ulster GAA microphone before lifting the Four Seasons Cup.
Back in Sleacht Néill hands for the first time since 2022, the fifth from the last nine championships; this one up there among the sweetest of all.
“To be honest, I don’t know how we won that match,” said the 22-year-old.
“We were slow to start - at half-time, we had 16 shots, 14 tackles, way down on our numbers and what we pride ourselves on – hooks, blocks, tackles, scoring, everything was down.
“They won every ruck ball in the first half, came out with everything, they played with serious drive and hunger, to be fair to them. We just had to match that and try to bring it to another level in the second half.
“Still we were eight down at the worst, it just shows the heart and desire in this team. We could’ve lay down, we were feeling sorry for ourselves at half-time, a lot of the leaders in the changing room stood up at that point.
“Oisin, Cormac, Rog, Shane, Sparky [Mark McGuigan]… we knew we had it in the legs, we just didn’t show a true reflection of how we’re able to perform. We finally brought the drive and passion in the final 20 minutes there.”
They didn’t get near the heights reached in the last four, Portaferry didn’t allow them for so long, yet now another All-Ireland semi-final lies in wait against Munster champions Sarsfields on December 15.
Four times the Derry men have made it to that stage, four times they have fallen short. It is a huge ask but, as shown already, Sleacht Néill are a side that will never roll over when the big days come around.
“It’s hard to go again and again, every single year,” said Cassidy.
“Losing the last two Ulster finals, a lot of teams could give up there. We have young boys in there like Finn McEldowney, Conor Coyle, bringing fresh energy.
“We’re hungrier than we’ve ever been before. In my first year we won an Ulster, we’ve been to two finals since and lost, now we’ve won this and we want to go on to the next stage.
“To be fair to Portaferry they gave everything out there, and so did we. We’re Ulster champions now – it’s hard to back up a performance like two weeks ago, good teams do it twice, we maybe didn’t do it today, bur we’ll be ready to go again in two weeks’ time.”
