AIB Ulster Club SHC semi-final: Portaferry (Down) 3-19 Cushendall (Antrim) 4-28
CUSHENDALL secured an Ulster final showdown with Slaughtneil on Sunday, but boss Brian Delargy admits they “got out of jail” after a last-gasp Neil McManus goal saved their skins in the dying seconds of normal time.
Portaferry looked set to stun the Antrim champions after a brilliant second half showing had them four ahead moving into added time, but the Ruairi Ogs never know when they’re beaten - with McManus, who scored 1-14, the man once again.
His point left a goal in it heading towards the last and when the 35-year-old was bundled over by Barry Trainor , the former Saffron star picked himself up and sent a skidding free that eluded goalkeeper Pearce Smyth and five others on the Portaferry line to bring the game into extra-time.
Cushendall didn’t look back, romping across the line as Portaferry wilted – but it could have been so different.
“We probably got out of jail a wee bit,” said Delargy.
“When we came back in there, we set our team up, we had full confidence that we were good for extra-time. We’ve done a serious amount of work in the five weeks since the semi-final, put in a big effort in our fitness, and it told there at the end when we got back to our running game, boys were running off the shoulder.”
On his captain’s dramatic late intervention, Delargy added: “There’s no better man [than McManus] to be standing over that sort of free.
“He’s done it many times over the years for Cushendall and for Antrim, Neil’s a super hurler. I’d rather have him standing over the ball than anybody else.
“It’s unbelievable, the condition he’s in, to put in that performance, he really pushed us over the line with a few other boys who really stood up. But Neil’s our captain, he’s our leader and he led by example.”
