Ballinascreen rapped out a sharp message to the effect that they might just be more capable of making more progress in the All-Ireland Club sphere following this emphatic victory over a subdued Fr Martin’s, London side in Sunday’s Ulster Club Junior Hurling Championship Final.
The Derry champions thrived in the wide-open expanses of Owenbeg to such an extent that their visitors were forced to live on scraps of possession.
And if Ballinascreen flourished as a team, then Eamon Conway and Paul Conway set the tone for their display with their feverish work-rate and polished finishing.
With Eamon landing 0-09 and Paul pocketing 1-03, the duo wrote a compelling script that could yet lead to even better things.
Eoin McCallion, Martin Bradley, Noel Rafferty and James McDaid were other players who stepped up.
Michael O’Rourke, Eoin O’Leary and Shane Griffth tried hard to galvanise Fr Murphy’s, while Antrim ace Conor McAreavey toiled diligently in their defence.
In the Ulster Club Intermediate Hurling decider, Carey Faughs got the better of Swatragh by the narrowest of margins – 1-11 to 0-13 – after a pulsating encounter.
A goal from Conlith McKinley in the 22nd minute looked to have bolstered Carey, but it was Swatragh who pilfered a brace of points before half-time. Yet that was as good as it got for the Derry champions.
The Faughs stepped up the tempo and with McKinley, Conall McGlynn and James Black very much at the heart of matters, they slowly but surely stamped their imprint on the game.
In a tense finish, Carey just managed to hold onto their one-point lead that has taken them into the All-Ireland Semi-Final.