McManus and McQuillan fire Cushendall to Ulster glory
December 04, 2023
Cushendall's Ryan McCambridge and Neil McManus lift the Ulster club SHC trophy. ©INPHO/Bryan Keane.
Neil McManus slotted 0-8 as Cushendall saw off Slaughtneil by 0-20 to 2-10 at Páirc Esler to claim their first Ulster Club SHC title in five years.
Ed McQuillan also shot four points from play to help the Antrim champions to a victory that was more comfortable than the scoreline suggests, and an All-Ireland semi-final against Leinster winners O’Loughlin Gaels in two weeks’ time.
A ring-rusty Slaughtneil struggled to get going as points from McManus and McQuillan gave the Antrim champions an early platform. But the Derry men hit back with points from Brendan Rogers, Mark McGuigan and Cormac O’Doherty as well as a goal from the latter to take control.
However, Cushendall responded with a flurry of scores from McManus, Ronan McAteer, McQuillan and Joseph McLaughlin to lead by the minimum, 0-10 to 1-6, at the interval.
The Ruairi’s resumed with five unanswered points from McAteer, McLaughlin, McManus and McQuillan to tighten their grip before a Shéa Cassidy goal brought Slaughtneil back into it. But they couldn’t get any closer than three points as young gun McLaughlin sent over the insurance point.
Tweet
