Slaughtneil Captain Mark McGuigan on Team’s Resilience in Ulster Hurling Final Victory

Slaughtneil’s captain, Mark McGuigan, stated that his team refused to “throw in the towel” during their comeback victory against Portaferry in the Ulster Hurling final. Portaferry held an eight-point advantage midway through the second half until Se McGuigan and Shea Cassidy netted two goals in the space of a minute. This brought the Derry team back into contention, enabling them to push forward and secure a 2-19 to 1-19 win in Armagh, marking their fifth Ulster title. “We just had to believe and we couldn’t throw the towel in,” McGuigan informed BBC Sport NI. “We didn’t lose the head and we kept it sensible. “When you have two players who are absolute goal machines, we just kept plugging away and got the two all-important goals” McGuigan further commented that “it wasn’t looking good” at half-time, but the team’s seasoned players motivated the remaining squad members. “A few of the more experienced heads just said to keep plugging away. We knew we had it in the legs and we knew we had done the work,” he stated. “We made life unbelievably difficult for ourselves but that only adds to the occasion.”It was an unbelievable feeling at the final whistle. It was pure relief, to be honest.” Having secured their first provincial title since 2021, Slaughtneil is now set to advance to the All-Ireland semi-finals. McGuigan is slated to lead his team against Cork champions Sarsfields in the last four, as the Ulster champions aim to reach their inaugural All-Ireland decider. “If us boys retire without making an All-Ireland final it will be a massive regret,” the captain concluded. “There’s no point in shying away from that, we really want to get to an All-Ireland final.”We’re playing the Munster champions and there’s no easy game there. It will be unbelievably tough.”