CUSHENDALL’S Brian Delargy says that stopping Rossa in this weekend’s Antrim Senior Hurling Championship semi-final will take the biggest performance from his team.

Rossa qualified automatically for the semi-finals through the group stages whereas Cushendall Ruairi Og’s had to go through the quarter-finals after finishing outside the top spot in group stages. They beat Naomh Eanna in the last round, and now they take on west Belfast side Rossa.

Delargy said: “It will be a massive challenge. But it is not something we don’t know. Rossa have made great strides the last couple of years. We know it is a big step up for us and we will have to put in a top performance to beat them. It will take more than we have given all year. But I am confident in the lads.

“We know that Colly Murphy’s (Rossa) team has really bought into it. We know that they are performing at a high level consistently. It will be up to us to match that and better them.”

Cushendall beat Naomh Eanna in the semi-final. Delargy said that the result was most important.

“We knew what St Enda’s were going to bring, we just did enough to get over the line. We move on now to Rossa. We weren’t concerned as our performances have been good all year. It was just about getting a win and getting in to the semi-final.”

Cushendall won’t have Paddy McGill for the game as he pulled a hamstring against Naomh Eanna. Alec Delargy has missed a few matches but they are hoping he might be ready to come back. Stephen Walsh remains a long term absentee because of his cruciate injury at the start of the season.

Delargy said that having players missing shouldn’t be a problem for his squad.

“We have coped all year with injuries. I have full confidence in the panel. This is what happens in sport, boys get injured and this gives boys a chance to step up.”

Delargy says that there are plenty of reasons for his team to be confident that they can beat Naomh Eanna this weekend.

“The league was good this year. They hurled the whole league without our county players. It gave boys a chance to step up and be leaders without the five boys that we had on the county panel.

“We found a few boys that have come in and made a difference to our team and our panel.

“We need to improve massively from last year, but we have built well during the year. If we can come in with a performance that is higher than the start of the championship then I would be happy enough.”