Slaughtneil 'couldn't throw in the towel' before final comeback

Slaughtneil captain Mark McGuigan says his side could not "throw in the towel" as they hit back to defeat Portaferry in the Ulster Hurling final.

Portaferry had an eight-point lead midway through the second half before Se McGuigan and Shea Cassidy scored two goals within a minute.

That got the Derry side back in the game and they pressed on to secure a 2-19 to 1-19 victory in Armagh for their fifth Ulster title.

"We just had to believe and we couldn't throw the towel in," McGuigan told BBC Sport NI.

"We didn't lose the head and we kept it sensible.

"When you have two players who are absolute goal machines, we just kept plugging away and got the two all-important goals"

McGuigan added "it wasn't looking good" at half-time but the experienced players in the team rallied the rest of the squad.

"A few of the more experienced heads just said to keep plugging away. We knew we had it in the legs and we knew we had done the work," he added.

"We made life unbelievably difficult for ourselves but that only adds to the occasion.

"It was an unbelievable feeling at the final whistle. It was pure relief, to be honest."

After winning a first provincial title since 2021, Slaughtneil will now progress to the All-Ireland semi-finals.

McGuigan will lead his side against face Cork champions Sarsfields in the last four as the Ulster champions look to reach a first All-Ireland decider.

"If us boys retire without making an All-Ireland final it will be a massive regret," the captain added.

"There's no point in shying away from that, we really want to get to an All-Ireland final.

"We're playing the Munster champions and there's no easy game there. It will be unbelievably tough."