They’ve been waiting for this for quite a while, so they might as well go bloody ballistic.
2009 was the last time the Cuchullains of Dunloy won a county senior hurling title, and the eight year wait for their 12th crown was long, was difficult, but proved to be worth it in the end judging by the scenes of unbridled joy in their victorious dressing room on Sunday.
The green and gold army went into the showpiece as underdogs, with old foes Ruairà Óg Cushendall, who made it all the way to the All-Ireland club final in 2016, hotly tipped to land a 14th Volunteer cup.
Their team, back boned by youngsters sure didn’t play like underdogs, outscoring their rivals in Ballycastle by 2-8 to 0-1 in an explosive third quarter of the game.
With wonderful coverage supplied from the phone of Buff Egan, the displays of lively corner forward Conal Cunning and resolute full back James McKeauge really caught the eye.
The atmosphere at the game looked carnival-like, with crowd oohing and aahing at every hop of the sliotar, and with the Cuchullains eventually carving out a five point victory, you knew damned well there was a few wild nights ahead of them.
It all kicked off in the dressing room after the game, as the squad and management, and even some young supporters sang the house down.
That’s what it means, to do it with your club, to do it with those you’ve grown up with. It was great to see. There they were, all the lads, all the teammates, having climbed their Everest, having won their All-Ireland.
Is there any better feeling in sport?
Championship celebration @DunloyGAC pic.twitter.com/sBLmnvoHGW
— Antrim GAA (@AontroimGAA) September 24, 2017
By all accounts, the celebrations didn’t stop with the apparent cans of Tuborg in the dressing room, and the homecoming, in which the players were carried through the town on Creagh Concrete diggers and lorries looked twice as mad, with great coverage again provided by Buff Egan’s Snapchat.
https://twitter.com/marilichat/status/912059318161281025
https://twitter.com/itsmep456/status/912011012068474880
That’s what it means.
