By Michael McMullan

BALLYCASTLE joint manager Kevin Barry McShane said there will BE no surprises for either side when they open their championship campaign on Saturday against Naomh Éanna.

The Ballycastle mantra under McShane and Shane Staunton is focussed on being “consistently competitive” in every game.

They met twice in the league with Naomh Éanna 1-9 to 0-8 winners in the first game before Ballycastle’s 3-25 to 2-17 win in June easing any relegation worries after the league split.

“We know exactly what’s going to come on Saturday and they know exactly what we’re going to come with,” said McShane, now in his third season at the helm.

“I think that’s why we focus on ourselves and, you know, getting our performance levels and hitting our KPIs.

“All the lads know and we’re happy if we do that we’ll be very competitive with anybody.

“Probably the one thing Ballycastle haven’t been in the last 10 or 15 years in the championship has been being consistently competitive.

“That’s the one thing that we’re trying to do…on any given day that we’re competitive with any of the teams, and realistically that’s what we’re aiming for.”

The last of their 17 titles came in 1986 but they were close in 2015 when Cushendall reeled them in from a position of strength.

McShane outlined how their win over Naomh Éanna in early June left them safe of any relegation worries. There was downtime before them ramping up ahead of the championship.

Aside from his brother Diarmaid’s ACL injury, Ballycastle will have a full hand to pick from this weekend.

Being in a group of three, after Creggan’s withdrawal, they were able to take a look at this weekend’s opponents in their defeat to Loughgiel.

With their last competitive game, a narrow defeat to Portaferry, seven weeks ago, it’s now about zoning in for the business part of the season.

“We used that break to our advantage and, to be honest, we’re ready for this weekend,” McShane said.

“You can do all the training in the world but you can’t beat championship and you can’t beat Championship games.

“With the format in Antrim, you’re guaranteed three competitive championship games every year. With the young team that we have, that’s invaluable.

“In year one, we had four games and then had five games getting to the semi-final last year.

“This year, we’re guaranteed three games. For those young lads, getting that experience and learning…championship is where it’s at.“We’re really looking forward to getting going this weekend and we feel the lads are exactly where we want to be.”