St. Brigid’s coach: ‘We’re up for it’

Laverty has given us a run-down on the men seeking glory.

He said: “It has been a remarkable three years for this group of players, winning the Antrim Junior Championship in 2010 and going on to reach the Ulster Junior Final where we were beaten by Inniskeen.

“In 2011 we entered the Intermediate grade and reached the County Final only to go down to Lamh Dhearg. This year has been a real rollercoaster and we have gone one better than last year and won our first Antrim Intermediate Championship beating an excellent St Paul’s team in the final and then onto Ulster where we triumphed against Castleblayney of Monaghan and now to our first Ulster Intermediate Final on Sunday October 28.

“I am not one bit surprised this group of players have achieved so much in such a short space of time. They are totally dedicated, focused and know they have a job to do.

“They have gained so much experience this past few years and are still a very young team. These lads live and breathe hurling. There is a very tight bond within the group.

“Lots of people have congratulated our achievements this year and say anything more is a bonus but I’m afraid anything less than an Ulster title will be a huge disappointment to myself, back room team and players.

“There is a great buzz about the village with flags going up and lots of chat about the match.

“The way the fans supported us during the Antrim Final I cannot stress enough how important the support is for these fine young hurlers from Cloughmills who are a credit to their families and to the club and wear the jersey with pride,” said Laverty.

Laverty gave us the following rundown. The 24-strong Cloughmills squad is as follows: Colm McLaughlin (24), Guinness rep; Brendan Martin (24), Wrightbus; Aaron Smiley (24), personal trainer; Stephen Martin (24), joiner; Tiarnan McLaughlin (20), student; Conor Laverty (21), student; Liam Kearns (25), joiner; Adrian Hill (34), farmer.

Stephen Smith (21), student; Martin Dobbin (21), joiner; Michael Morrison (28), electrician; Danny McLaughlin (27), electrician; Leon Connolly (22), car salesman; James Doherty (22), farmer; Michael Devlin (21), student; Christopher McKiernan (21), joiner; Aaron McNeill (22), student; Seamus Watson (34), ‘Gallaher’; Damien Watson (37), joiner; Shan McKendry (22) joiner; John B McGuckian (29), solicitor; Gary McCollum (29), electrician.