Experience alone won't beat St John's - McCormack
McCormack feels there are "fires to put out" throughout the Johnnies' forward line
- Published
Experience of Ulster club hurling final day may be an advantage for Slaughtneil when they take on St John's at the Athletic Grounds on Saturday (18:00 GMT), but manager Paul McCormack insists they will need much more to retain their provincial crown.
The Derry champions are appearing in their 10th final of their 13-in-a-row run of county success with a sixth Ulster title in their sights.
Last year, they got their hands on the Four Seasons Cup for the first time since 2021 when coming through in a thriller against Portaferry and they had to dig deep once again against the Down club in this year's semi-final, winning 1-23 to 1-18.
There is a know-how of playing late in the year for this group, a result of their desire to get back to the All-Ireland stage with Galway's Loughrea awaiting the winner of Saturday's Ulster decider, but McCormack is aware St John's will be equally motivated having ended their 52-year wait for an Antrim title.
"That [experience] is an advantage we have, but St John's are coming fresh, hungry and eager to make their impact now," the Keady native told BBC Sport NI.
"The Antrim championship is very hard won, so this is their time and they will do all they can to make that time count.
"Our experience, will it tell? We'll see on Saturday evening. I would hope it would because our fellas are grounded, still hungry and have that desire, so they will need all those qualities to get through the game."
Gerald Bradley celebrates his goal against Portaferry in the semi-final
Both teams have an abundance of potential match-winners Gerald Bradley's finding the net when introduced as a substitute off the bench against Portaferry.
With the leadership of team captain Mark McGuigan, Brendan Rogers, Shane McGuigan, Cormac O'Doherty and the returning Chrissy McKaigue, Slaughtneil pose a formidable challenge.
Their opponents are not lacking similar qualities with Conor Johnston's performances at centre-forward earning him the Antrim club hurler of the year award, but McCormack knows the Belfast side have many more threats.
"They have quality throughout their team and are resilient men as well," he added.
"We've a lot of fires to put out up front, not just Conor Johnston who you might say has the best wrists and hands in Antrim, if not in Ulster.
"You also have Oisin MacManus and Shea Shannon up there - three quality forwards who are scoring heavily, so we need to be prepared to deal with those threats."