Antrim SHC final: Neil McManus hopes Cushendall's 'core principles' will take them to title

Neil McManus has tasted Antrim club title success on six occasions with Cushendall before and wants more

Neil McManus hopes Cushendall's "core principles" will help them defeat Loughgiel in Sunday's Antrim Senior Hurling Championship final.

Talisman McManus is aiming to win his seventh Antrim title when the sides meet at Corrigan Park on Sunday.

"It'll be a brilliant game," the 35-year-old told BBC Sport ahead of what will be the 10th time the two clubs have met in the decider.

"We have had some fantastic encounters with Loughgiel throughout my career."

He added: "Not only this year, but for generations, our club has been a team built on hard work and determination.

"There is nothing really new in that for anyone that has watched a lot of the hurling championship over the last number of decades.

"They are very much the core principles of our club and of our senior hurlers, and that is what we plan to stick to on Sunday.

"Nothing can be won without that level of desire and that is what we will be concentrating on. We will work as hard as we can as a collective group and make the best use of the possession we get."

Final offers opportunity for more special memories

McManus has been one of the top hurlers in Antrim for many years, winning several Ulster titles and two Joe McDonagh Cups with the Saffrons before retiring from inter-county duty in the summer.

Having enjoyed club title success in the past with Cushendall, he spoke about what it would mean to him and his team-mates to deliver another trophy.

"It is brilliant. You are representing your parish when you are playing, that is how it works," he continued.

"We have had some great days down the years and they are very special times when it means as much as it does to your family and the people you have grown up with and went to school with.

"Those are the lads that you are playing alongside in these games. It is a unique opportunity that not many sports provide you with because the majority of them are professional or individual.

"This is really about the collective and the entire community, so to get over the line would create another really special memory."

Both sides secured emphatic wins in their semi-finals, with McManus scoring 1-6 as his side defeated Ballycastle 4-15 to 1-9.

Loughgiel, meanwhile, ended Dunloy's five-in-a-row hopes and the Cuchullains' Antrim senior championship double chances by earning a 1-21 to 0-13 victory in their last-four encounter, with Paul Boyle grabbing the goal.

McManus played down the significance of such big winning margins in their semi-finals in terms of any impact for Sunday's final, but did have words of praise for the strengths of Antrim record holders Loughgiel, who are aiming to win their 21st title and first since 2016.

"That was a huge win for Loughgiel [over Dunloy in the semi-final] and they will take lots of confidence from it.

"They played really well and that is testament to the talent that they have within their group. I would play with a lot of their players in the county team, or have done in the past, and they have always had a very talented group.

"They have been very successful at minor level for the past four or five seasons and that seems to be coming to fruition for them."

Asked about the biggest threats they posed, he added: "The intensity and hunger that they brought to their semi-final was very impressive.

"As well as that, the way they played the ball through the lines was impressive as well. Hurling is very much a possession sport these days, it has evolved and that was certainly a facet of their game that was impressive in their semi-final."

Loughgiel galvanised after rebuilding - Boyle

Loughgiel's semi-final goalscorer Boyle, meanwhile, believes his side can take a lot of confidence from their semi-final performance and their margin of victory over a Dunloy side that were seeking their fifth successive title.

"We have been working away in the background and it is good that we are finally back where we belong," he said.

"We have done a lot of rebuilding, the team is galvanised and hopefully we can go now and finish the job.

"If somebody had told me a week before that we would beat Dunloy by such a scoreline I'd probably have laughed in their face. You'd probably be thinking one or two points but we got on top and kept the foot on the gas.

"The final will be no easier, if not more difficult. Cushendall are a super team, we saw what they are made of in their semi-final and the drubbing they gave us in the group stages at Healy Park."