By Niall Gartland

CUCHULAINN’S of Armagh will take on Lavey this Saturday for a place in the Ulster Junior Hurling Championship final, a massive occasion for a small tight-knit club.

They’re managed by Randalstown native JP McLarnon, who successfully steered the club to intermediate honours in Armagh.

They recorded a facile victory over Erne Gaels in last weekend’s provincial opener on a scoreline of 7-23 to 1-11, Oisin Hughes bagging a hat-trick of goals on his way to finishing with 3-3, while Ciaran Duffy, Fionntan Oliver, John Donnelly and Willy Wong also raised green flags.

Was it a useful exercise? That one’s up for debate but McLarnon was pleased with how they stayed focused against the Belleek side.

“It’s hard to say whether we learned much from it or not. I thought they (Erne Gaels) would be a bit stronger than they were, to be honest. At the same time I thought we played very well, we stuck to our structure and didn’t deviate from it. It would have been easy to take our foot off the pedal but we kept driving on and got the job done.”

Cuchulainn’s initially fielded in the senior championship in the Orchard County before taking the step down to intermediate. Now they find themselves in their first provincial campaign since 2013 and McLarnon is expecting a much stiffer test against Lavey than they received against Erne Gaels.

“There’s just a week’s turnaround for this one. We’re looking forward to it, and there’s a great buzz around the club.

“I know Lavey very well, they’re a very young, strong team. It’ll take a massive performance from us to get over the line, I’d say they’re one of the favourites for the title.”

Reaching the final would be a milestone moment for a club celebrating their 80th year. They’re small in numbers but big on heart.

“They celebrated their gala not so long ago in Armagh City Hotel. They’re a very proud club – it’s very small but everybody has a role and a job and rows in together.

“The one thing about them is they don’t actually have a pitch. You’re going around begging, borrowing and stealing, asking other football teams to train on their pitch.

“It’s a wee bit of a barrier but to be fair to the likes of the Pearse Ógs and the Harps, they’re very good to Cuchulainn’s and there’s a very good relationship there.”