WHAT happened on a cold Sunday afternoon in Corrigan Park two years ago was standard fare for a Sleacht Néill side that, by then, was utterly at ease with whatever challenges Ulster had to offer.
Because a year after Portaferry’s sole provincial triumph a decade ago, the south Derry club finally broke through their glass ceiling; their trajectory only moving one way in the time between.
The Ports haven’t returned to an Ulster decider since 2014, while Sleacht Néill have been in seven, winning four and setting the standard to which all the rest must aspire.
When these clubs collided in the last four in 2022, the newly-minted Down champions came in full of confidence. With Covid denying them a shot at Ulster in 2020, after a six-year wait for the Jeremiah McVeagh Cup came to an end, Sleacht Néill were firmly in their sights.
Yet what Portaferry received in west Belfast that day was a lesson. The first 10 minutes or so went okay, before Michael McShane’s men mastered the swirling breeze and started to turn the screw.
The size and scale of the step up was alarming; it was little more than shooting practice for the Derry kingpins in the end.
Physically, Sleacht Néill were on an entirely different level. Captain Cormac O’Doherty’s work-rate set the template for the rest to follow, with second half goals from Brian Cassidy and Jerome McGuigan putting the seal on a 16-point win.
Despite the pain, Portaferry have not allowed themselves to forget what happened at Corrigan Park. Stephen Conlon, their strength and conditioning coach, has put them to work in the time since. Gerard McGrattan’s focus on the finest details has seen the gap narrow – but will that be enough in Armagh on Sunday evening?
In last year’s semi-final they pushed Cushendall all the way, leading by four heading into added time, only for a last-gasp Neil McManus goal to bring the game into extra-time. From there, though, their challenge capitulated – the Ruairi Ogs romping across the line in the end.
After another semi-final that finished in equally dramatic fashion a fortnight ago, Sleacht Néill demonstrated the steel for which they have become renowned.
Again it was McManus who pulled Cushendall out of a hole at the end of normal time, his deflected shot from almost 40 metres somehow finding a home in the net after the Derry champions looked home and hosed.
The defending Ulster champions had to dig deep to see off St John’s, then Dunloy in their county final, to get out the gate in Antrim; their credentials when the chips are down could not be questioned.
Yet Sleacht Néill are made of the sternest stuff. They parked the misery of those final few seconds and came out firing on all cylinders in extra-time. Brendan Rogers led the charge, Ruairi Ó Mianáin shot the lights out and Paul McCormack’s men held their nerve.
It wasn’t so much that they were back; more that they had never truly gone away.
Now, with Conor McAllister having returned following a year out injured, and the emergence of young stars like Finn McEldowney and Conor Coyle – sub goalie last year – they look a different animal.
Portaferry, though, represent a different type of challenge to Cushendall. Where the Ruairi Ogs remain so reliant on 36-year-old McManus for scores, Gerard McGrattan’s men carry a serious threat across their forward line.
Eoghan Sands will relish the physical battles, younger brother Daithi is a wizard when granted any kind of space, Finn Turpin has been a serious find for club and county while Tom McGrattan is wielding far greater influence since being brought out the field by his father.
However, the space to roam free that McGrattan enjoyed against Ballygalget six weeks ago will not be on offer in Armagh.
Caolan Taggart will likely go on to Rogers, and curtailing his influence might go some way to edging things if an arm wrestle unfolds. But, with 12 different men getting on the scoreboard against Cushendall, there are fires to be put out all over the field.
In order to stand any hope at all, Portaferry have to at the very least match what Sleacht Néill bring without the sliothar. They learned that the hard way two years ago.
The gap has undoubtedly closed, and the 4/1 odds generally offered for a Portaferry win appear generous. Another all action draw would be no surprise but, when it comes to the crunch, Sleacht Néill might just have the savvy to see it out and put their name on the Four Seasons Cup once again.
