Slaughtneil manager Michael McShane calls for rethink over Provincial and All Ireland Club series

Reigning Ulster champions, Slaughtneil, secured an eighth successive Derry senior crown when they defeated old rivals Kevin Lynch's 0-23 to 0-11 in Celtic Park on Sunday with McShane revealing he remained hopeful his team would be allowed to defend their provincial crown.

"At the moment, they are telling us there is going to be no provincial or All Ireland series which I'm very disappointed about but that's the decision they have made," explained McShane after watching Cormac O'Doherty raise the Fr. Collins Cup.

"I think there is an opportunity to play out the provincial and All Ireland series after Christmas. The inter county season is over and it will only take five weekends to play out the Ulster and All Ireland hurling series.

"In any of the provinces, you have about 10 weeks between the start of January and St. Patrick's Day. I don't see any reason why, whilst the inter county season may have already started if the GPA proposal goes forward and they are able to start training in January with games at the end of February, the teams that are involved in the provincial or All Ireland Series, the counties can do without those players.

"I think it is very unfair to say to club players, 'You've played here, you've won your county but that's the end of it.' You wouldn't say to Tyrone or Donegal, 'Right, you've won Ulster, away now and go home.' They go on and play in an All Ireland Series, play further down the line and this is what these lads want to do.

"We want to go and have an opportunity to retain our title and I hope the authorities will take that on board. I'd say every club team in Ireland that wins their county championship will say the same as me. We want to play at the next level so we will see what happens."

Sunday's 12-point victory was another emphatic statement by Slaughtneil who were made to work in the opening half against Lynch's after finding themselves 0-6 to 0-1 down playing into a considerable gale. While the first half water break came at an opportune time for the Emmet's and allowed them to regain a foothold in the match, McShane says he had already seen signs his side were finding their feet after a difficult opening quarter.

"We don't do panic," added the Emmet's manager, "We have been in that position before. We've talked about this over the years and all you do when you are behind is work that bit harder, maybe make a few changes, tactically or position wise. You have to start working harder and bring yourself back into the game. Nothing beats hard work.

"I thought the lads' work rate in that first half was incredible and they got some great points. Brian Cassidy got a great point right out in front of us.

"Young Shea Cassidy, I cannot speak highly enough of him. Shea didn't know until 12 o'clock today (Sunday) when we went for the team meeting that he was playing and I did that purposely because I don't want to burden him by allowing him to think about it for the days leading up to it. Jerome (McGuigan) wasn't fit to start and I put Shea in there. He's only a minor but he played like a seasoned senior player. His contribution in the first half was amazing.

"Second half we pulled away and the last 15 minutes were pretty straightforward but it wasn't straightforward in that first half. To be honest, that's when we won that game. Our effort was incredible.

"Kevin Lynch's tackling was fierce; Very, very hard hitting but all very fair and within the rules of the game and we had to stand up to it. It took us about 10 minutes to get used to the speed of that but to go in at 0-7 apiece having played into a gale force wind was brilliant. It really gave us the confidence that we could come out and relax, open the shoulder and hurl a bit and I was always comfortable that we were going to get enough scores to go on and win the game."

And despite becoming an almost annual event, McShane said winning the county title feels as special as it did the first time they won it.#

"When you win a county title you have achieved what you set out to do at the start of the season. You can never look by your own county championship because if you don't win that then you're not winning anything else.

"When we got back training after lockdown eased, the whole idea was to come back and win the county championship, get the eight in a row, and see what happens from there. We are delighted to win because it is always a battle with Kevin Lynch's and it was a real battle today. We won by 12 points in the end up but it was a tough, tough game.

"We are as delighted with this one as we were with any of them."