By Michael McMullan

IT’S been a very different year for the hurlers of St John’s. Winning the Volunteer Cup for the first time is the crux of the story leading to Saturday’s Ulster Senior Championship final against Sleacht Néill.

Below that, they’ve developed that important habit of winning important games when their hand of cards was plonked in the middle of the table.

Manager Gerard Cunningham sees similarities between Sunday’s opponents and a Cushendall team that has almost defined the character of his own side.

Strip it all back, and they’ve made a habit of winning knock-out championship games.

The dominant narrative attached to Cunningham’s side was their multiple Antrim semi-final defeats.

However, this time, four successive knock-out wins take them to Armagh and a date with the reigning Ulster champions.

Defeat to Dunloy in the last group game of the Antrim Championship set them up with a Belfast derby against league champions Rossa.

Victory setup another installment of their rivalry with Cushendall. After a momentous victory, the Johnnies finished the job by beating Loughgiel in the final.

“I suppose if you can call it battle-hardened,” was Cunningham’s take on what their season has brought to the group.

“For years, St John’s were only getting to the knockout stages and getting put out in the semi-final or the quarter-final.

“We now know what we need to do to get across the line and that’s going for 65 to 70 minutes.

“Saturday’s not going to be any different, that’s going to go right down to the wire.”

After hanging up his hurl, Cunningham joined Brian McFall’s management almost instantly. Then came a two-year break from hurling completely before he came in as manager at the start of the 2025 season.

Between playing with them, coaching them and looking in over the wire, he can read their body language better than most.

Chatting hurling with Cunningham, the first thing that comes across is a calmness both in what he says and how it’s delivered.

“I’m noticing that some of them can actually smile for a change, I think they’re actually starting to enjoy it themselves,” he said when asked what the distinct difference has been to the temperature of the group in recent weeks.

With no floodlights in Corrigan Park and Dunsilly unavailable, St John’s have been to the four winds for training.

Liatroim, Ulster University and Cargin are some of the venues. A grass session is more important than a token runout of an artificial pitch in Belfast. Cunningham is openly thankful for those who have opened the doors to St John’s.

“We were down in Liatroim. It was freezing, it was icy and it’s an hour away for some of us,” he said.

“It was nice to travel down and they don’t mind that. It shows whenever you’re travelling that distance to train and the lads are enjoying it that they’re in a good place.”

On the injury front, barring any late knocks this week at training, Cunningham will be picking from a full deck.

St John’s gambled on resting Ciaran Johnston and Oisin Donnelly ahead of the Setanta game, with the thought process that two extra weeks would leave them ready for an Ulster final.

They had a delegation in Armagh to run their eyes over Sleacht Néill’s win over Portaferry, a result they expected.

“Now we know who we’re facing and there’s a good buzz about the place ready to take the field,” Cunningham said.

“We’ll have to make the most of this. I don’t know when we’re going to be back, if we’ll be back next year or next three years, we don’t know.

“So, while we’re here we’ll look forward to it but obviously the plan is to go on and win it.”

A second Johnston after half time was the comfort blanket against a Setanta team who hung in until midway through the second half.

Oisin MacManus hit 12 points and St John’s never looked in danger but there is still more needed.

“There’s definitely takeaways,” Cunningham said. “We’ve watched it back a couple of times and there’s things that we need to improve on.

“I suppose that isn’t a bad thing, getting into a final where you need to improve in a few areas.”

Winning the Antrim Championship is one thing. The Volunteer Cup is tucked away for the winter and it’s the Ulster champions who turn the heat up again this weekend.

“They are standard bearers in Ulster and they have been for the last 10 years,” Cunningham said of Saturday’s opponents.

“They’re always there or thereabouts. They just know how to get it done and they’re very similar to the way Cushendall have been in Antrim.

“Even if they’re not hurling well, they stay in the game and in the last 10 minutes they do tend to pull away.

“We know what they’re going to bring. We see them as being very similar to Cushendall as well, so we’ll prepare obviously to go for the 65 or 70 minutes because we know they’ll get to that stage.”

Much of the St John’s focus will be on what they’ll bring to the party but Cunningham also casts his eye over the opposition too.

His general take is that he can’t just focus on one of Sleacht Néill’s players. Chrissy McKaigue has made a return and leads the attack alongside Shéa Cassidy.

“He hurled really well and I was surprised to see him in there (full-forward) and staying in there.

“He’s a good out ball for them but I suppose if needed he can come out and roam around.

“They’ve a number of serious hurlers there that we’ll have to keep an eye on.

“If somebody does keep Chrissy quiet, then someone else is going to have to keep (Brendan) Rogers or (Cormac) O’Doherty quiet so there’s a few match-ups left to get right.”