BY RYAN FERRY
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH Dylan Patton beamed with delight after playing his part in a brilliant victory for Sean MacCumhaills against Éire Óg on Sunday.
Patton and his teammates knew it was going to be a difficult game but they brought heart and desire in abundance.
They didn’t back down for any ball and time after time came out on top in the 50/50 duels.
It was challenging for the attackers but Patton made it count when he had the ball and finished with seven points to his name.
“It’s unbelievable.
“It’s hard to believe. It was a serious effort.
“We just said that we were going to come here and fight hard and give it our all no matter what.
“We have been training very hard and all the boys have been putting in the work.
“You could see it there today, everybody was fit and sharp.”
Days like Sunday don’t suit silky hurlers such as Patton and there wasn’t much free-flowing hurling played.
However, MacCumhaills have learned lessons from their previous visits to Ballinascreen and they knew what it took to win the match.
“The conditions were tough and Carrickmore put up a serious fight as well.
“They didn’t make it easy at all for us and we knew they wouldn’t.
“We’re just delighted that it went our way this year.
“We were up here twice before and it didn’t really go our way.
“But this was the year for us. I’m still minor again next year but some of our best players will be overage.
“So we knew this was our year.”
MacCumhaills now enter the main minor competition. They face Down champions Ballygalget next week before Derry’s Kevin Lynch’s and Antrim’s Cushendall collide.
The standard will increase but Patton is looking forward to boarding the bus bound for Ballinascreen once more.
“We will enjoy this but we will look forward to coming back up.
“We will be back training again this week.
“It’s going to be a tough game but sure we will see how it goes.”
