Loughgiel have reason to believe

ALL IRELAND CLUB SHC SEMI-FINALS:AT FIRST glance Loughgiel Shamrocks seem like the novel team in Saturday's AIB All-Ireland club hurling semi-final line-up, and in many respects they are. The Antrim champions face O'Loughlin Gaels of Kilkenny in Parnell Park, and while it's not exactly David against Goliath, there are no prizes for guessing who will start as favourites.

O’Loughlin Gaels recently captured their second Leinster club hurling title in eight years, and having also beaten the best Kilkenny have to offer, are strongly fancied to progress to the final on St Patrick’s Day.

But they won’t want to under-estimate Loughgiel. In September, they won their first Antrim hurling title since 1989 with a one-point win over Cushendall, and while that victory was a long-time coming, they’ve since moved through Ulster with ease, comfortable winners over Ballygalget of Down and Keady of Armagh. They are now bidding to become the first Antrim club to reach the All-Ireland final since Dunloy lost to Newtownshandrum in 2004.

Loughgiel remain the only Ulster club to have won the All-Ireland senior hurling club title – their famous success coming in 1983 when the team captained by goalkeeper Neilly Patterson beat St Rynagh’s of Offaly in the final. O’Loughlin Gaels have yet to win an All-Ireland.

They endured several narrow defeats in the Antrim championship in recent years, including six finals in a row, from 2003 to 2008, and also losing last year’s semi-final. It was after that manager PJ O’Mullan realised something was missing, perhaps only in the mind.

The man he looked to was 72-year-old coach Jim Nelson, the man who took Antrim to the All-Ireland hurling final in 1989. Nelson’s impact on Loughgiel was immediate, not necessarily in making them better players, but in nurturing their self-belief. They have some class scoring forwards, including Liam Watson, Brendan McCarry and Eddie McCloskey.

2010 AIB Provincial Player Award Winners, Football – Connacht: Frankie Dolan (St Brigid’s, Roscommon), Munster: David Niblock (Nemo Rgs, Cork), Ulster: Oisín McConville (Crossmaglen, Rangers, Armagh), Leinster: Brian Kavanagh (Kilmacud Crokes, Dublin). Hurling – Leinster: Mark Bergin (O’Loughlin Gaels, Kilkenny), Munster: Kevin Moran (De La Salle, Waterford), Ulster: Liam Watson (Loughgiel, Antrim).