LOCAL PAIR EYE ULSTER GLORY

The Shamrocks are odds-on favourites against Keady for their Ulster Club Senior Hurling Championship final on Sunday after they beat Ballygalget in the semi-final 2-17 to 2-6.

And the Biddie’s will be looking to make history when they go up against Iniskeen of Monaghan in the Junior Final.

Loughgiel manager PJ O'Mullan has insisted the Shamrocks will be taking nothing for granted against surprise package Keady.

Keady will become the first Armagh team to appear in an Ulster Club Senior Hurling final.

Loughgiel will be red-hot favourites to win by a landslide but Derry champions Lavey were in the same position against Keady in the semi-final and were beaten.

Mullan says he has taken that result on board and has vowed that his team will show Keady the respect they deserve.

"We know we'll be favourites, the papers and bookies have to earn their money,” he said.

“Armagh (hurling) has improved so much, on a scale of 0-10, it's a 10. They were in an Ulster minor final and an under 21 final this year, so we're under no illusions about the task at hand.

"We'll do what we did all year.

“We'll prepare hard, we'll work hard and give them the respect they're due."

O'Mullan believes Loughgiel's display against Ballygalget in the semi-final was an improvement on their showing in the Antrim County Final against Cushendall seven days earlier.

"The performance was a step-up from the county final,” he said.

“There was a lot of pressure on us going into the county final. We were carrying the expectations of a generation, I suppose, going into that match," he added.

Keady progressed to their first-ever Ulster decider with a 1-15 to 2-10 victory over Lavey, who went into the game at O'Neill Park as favourites.

St Brigid’s Cloughmills created a bit of history when they qualified for the Ulster Club Junior Hurling final by beating Donegal champions Mac Cumhaill’s in the semi-final at Dungannon.

In a thrilling game the ‘Biddies’ got the better of their opponents for whom ace marksman Lee Henderson scored thirteen of his team’s fifteen points.

A fantastic achievement by the Cloughmills men.

Meanwhile, Liam Watson has missed out on a place in the Vodafone Hurling All Stars team for 2010.

The Loughiel clubman was among 45 nominations for the side which includes players from Tipperary, Kilkenny, Waterford and Galway.