Ger Cunningham said the newly-crowned Antrim hurling champions won’t take their eye off the ball as they face Donegal champions Setanta in the Ulster SHC semi-final
There were many who doubted their day would ever come. They just seemed destined to be the bridesmaid or perhaps not even.
The bridesmaids at least get to be part of the big day. The hurlers of St John’s suffered a scarcely believable run of six semi-final losses in seven years.
When they finally got their hands on the Volunteer Cup for the first time since 1973 after their thrilling win over Loughgiel in Ballycastle last month, the celebrations in west Belfast went on for quite a few days.
Manager Gerard Cunningham said the victory was a testament to the character and belief of the squad, who refused to give up on their pursuit of the Antrim SHC title.
“Sometimes you do think ‘is it ever going to happen’ because it goes on so long – you always have that thought in the back of your head,” said Cunningham.
“I suppose this group, they were always confident they were going to do it at some stage. They were never going to pass without bringing it home.
“It’s actually hard to put your finger on what was different about this year. I think they were just building throughout the league with a good league campaign. And then we had an injection, obviously, of our county boys coming back in.
“Our injuries were very small, very limited injuries, with no real injuries going through a Championship, which again, I think was a big benefit for us getting across the line.
“It’s maturity as well and I think it’s just clicked this year.”
Those sentiments were echoed by joint-captain Shea Shannon, who joked that he wasn’t sure what the final score was as there was no scoreboard at Ballycastle.
“As soon as the whistle went, I just dropped to my knees,” said Shannon.
“I just looked at the sky, it was the best feeling I’ve ever felt in my whole life.
“We weren’t sure how long was left and I didn’t even know what the score was as there was no scoreboard. Maybe that was a good thing! I was just pure and utter relief.
“You doubt yourself over the year – I think I’ve maybe lost eight semi-finals with replays, extra-times.
“You do wonder ‘are we ever going to go over the line’? But thankfully this year, we just kind of quietly flew under the radar every game and got over the line in those games.”
That won’t be the case this weekend when they face Donegal champions Setanta in the Ulster Club SHC semi-final.
As champions of Antrim, the Johnnies will be expected to book their place in the provincial final, but Cunningham insists they won’t look too far ahead of themselves.
“We’ll do what we’ve done all year and go game-by-game,” added the St John’s boss.
“The only team on our mind is Setanta.It’s good that we have a semi-final to play in. A team isn’t going straight through to the final. We’ll approach Setanta like we do at any game we have this year.
“Our only focus is on them. We’ll not look past them.”
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