Burt ready to ‘give it a rattle’ in Ulster Junior Club hurling championship

Burt return to the provincial stage this Sunday when they take on Castlewellan of Down in the quarter-final of the Ulster Junior Club Hurling Championship - and manager Enda McDermott says his players are relishing the chance to “give it a rattle.”

Sunday’s game, which takes place at Liatroim Fontenoy's grounds near Castlewellan, represents something of an unexpected bonus for the Burt men. Burt only discovered their entry into this season’s provincial junior championship several weeks after their county semi-final exit at the hands of Setanta in August.

Read more: Burt lose to Setanta in Donegal semi-final

“Training had stopped, but we resumed again a few weeks ago and it's been going well numbers-wise,” said McDermott. “Castlewellan played their Down junior final last Friday night. They have a short run in ahead of Ulster, but I think I'd prefer that to having the 12-week lay-off. How can you prepare for a competition with a lay-off like that? You can play all the friendlies you want, but nothing beats competitive matches.”

Burt have filled the gap with challenge games against St Eunan’s and Magee College, but McDermott knows that’s a world away from the intensity of championship hurling. By contrast, Castlewellan will arrive with sharpness and confidence after their 5-14 to 0-9 demolition of Kilclief in the Down Junior Final last weekend.

While McDermott admits to knowing little about the Down side, he is respectful of their firepower and experience. “They have a short run in ahead of Ulster,” he said, “but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You’d rather be playing games than trying to stay sharp in training.”

Still, Burt’s manager is more focused on how his own side perform than worrying too much about the opposition. With Donegal captain Conor Gartland anchoring the midfield, and attacking options such as Liam Óg McKinney and Ronan McDermott providing firepower, Burt will travel with optimism. Youngsters Kyron McColgan and Eoin McDaid have also broken into the senior squad this year and impressed in training.

“It’s the first time this season I’ll have a full squad to pick from, other than the Curran brothers,” McDermott confirmed. Both Ciaran and Patrick Curran remain sidelined with long-term knee injuries, but forward Kieran Brady - who missed the Donegal championship - is fit again and back in contention.

While this is his first season as manager of the Burt senior hurlers, McDermott has plenty of experience of Ulster competition. He was a member of the Burt side that won the Ulster Junior Club championship back in 2011, and he knows the challenges it brings. “We’d won the Donegal Junior football championship that year too, so were out in both Ulster competitions, back to back some weekends,” he recalled. “That was tough. And the final went to a replay too. It was hard won.”

Last year, Burt fell just short in the Ulster Intermediate quarter-final against Bredagh, and McDermott says his players learned a lot from that experience - particularly about the physicality and refereeing standards outside Donegal.

“In those stronger Ulster counties, a lot more is let go,” he said. “I've been trying to instil that in the boys, telling them they will be hit hard and the referee won't call a foul. We noticed it big time against Bredagh last year - we'd have got frees in Donegal for some of the challenges, but they weren't called.”

This year’s draw places Burt on the same side as Antrim champions Glenravel, who play Truagh Gaels of Monaghan this weekend. The winners of those ties will meet in the semi-final the following weekend.

On the far side of the draw, Derry’s Lavey are joined by Cootehill (Cavan), Cuchulainns (Armagh), and Erne Gaels (Fermanagh).

For Burt, though, it’s all about the here and now. “We're not looking beyond Sunday,” McDermott insisted. “It's against Down opposition, away from home and while we don't know what to expect it's not going to be easy.”

And while he admits preparation has been far from ideal, McDermott says his side are determined to make the most of the opportunity. “When we got the opportunity to enter the competition, we jumped at it because we haven't had a competitive game since in three months.

“We've had a long break, and not having had a competitive game since 1 August is no way to prepare for an Ulster club championship. That's not in any way to make an excuse, but it's really no way to prepare for competition, and the way the club championship is set up in this county isn't good enough in my opinion.

“But we will give it a rattle on Sunday.”