McKinney says Burt will be underdogs for final

BY CHRIS ASHMORE

Burt ace Liam Óg McKinney is hoping that his side can now go all the way and lift this year’s Ulster Junior Club Hurling Championship title.

Having overcome Castlewellan of Down in the quarter-finals and Con Magees of Antrim in yesterday’s semi-final, Burt will now take on Lavey of Derry in the provincial decider at Celtic Park in Derry next Saturday.

“Lavey were heavy favourites coming into the Ulster Junior Championship so we know we are going to be underdogs going into it, but it’s not a bad place to be,” he said.

“We know from last year when we played Setanta in the county final that we can show up as underdogs if we need to.”

And he added: “We would fancy ourselves after the two games (to date in the championship) to put in a performance and hopefully we will see next week if it will be enough or not.”

Reflecting on the win over Con Magees, he acknowledged that they “will have to have a look at themselves” given how they had been seven points in front at one stage yet nearly let things slip before winning out by six points.

“I think we underestimated how strong the breeze was and we were penned in for maybe ten minutes but once we finally broke through it opened up for us,” he noted.

McKinney, who has sparkled for the Donegal senior hurling team in recent times, is certainly the man for the big occasion, and much will rest on him against Lavey.

He is well familiar with some of the Lavey players and knows well the rivalry that exists between Donegal and Derry hurlers, and Burt will certainly be giving it everything.

“It hasn’t been a great year for Burt hurling in Donegal but we have put a lot of training into this Ulster championship campaign, and it would be a huge win if we could do it next weekend,” he said.