By Shaun Casey

IT’S been a rough couple of months for the community of Carey Faughs, but the hurlers put plenty of smiles on the faces of their people on Saturday afternoon as they defeated Swatragh by the minimum of margins to claim the Ulster IHC title.

Six-year-old Joe Hegarty, the team’s mascot, tragically lost his life in August. Captain Shea Hunter dedicated Saturday’s victory to ‘Wee Joe’ and wore the number 26 jersey while lifting the cup. Joe was the 26th man on the panel.

Two weeks ago, wing-back James Black lost his father and Black has featured in, and starred in, the Ulster semi-final and final since then. He gave a heroic performance in the decider, hitting 0-2 and making a vital block in the final few minutes.

“It’s a very, very proud club, a very proud parish,” said manager Eddie McCloskey. “With the year that was in it, with the tragic loss of Wee Joe and then ‘Rocket’ (Black) losing his father a couple of weeks ago, there’s been a lot of hurt in the parish.

“This win brings a wee bit of pride back and nulled that pain a wee bit. It’s massive for the club, it’s massive for the parish. We’re a small area but there’s a hell of a togetherness and it’s shown on Saturday. They got behind the team and got us over the line.”

On Black, McCloskey added: “I think if you were to pick a man of the match for the game, ‘Rocket’ would have been number one. He’s just one of those boys, you don’t have to give him any instructions.

“You give the tactical plan of the team, and he knows where to go, when he needs to go, etcetera. He’s fantastic. He’s been great all year and his mentality after losing his father two weeks ago is remarkable. ‘Rocket’s’ an 8 out of 10 or a 9 out of 10 performer every day.

“He’s so consistent, he’s a machine in terms of his athleticism. He’s very rarely injured, no matter the amount of abuse he gets in a game. It’s just a manager’s dream to have him on a team.”

Carey Faughs had the aid of a strong breeze in the opening half against Swatragh and carried a six-point lead into the half-time break. While Swatragh chipped away at the margin, Carey held their nerve to get across the line.

“We just approached it next ball, next puck, I know that’s a cliché. Yes, the breeze was there, we wanted to come in with an advantage at half time. Was six points enough? If you look at the context of the game, maybe it wasn’t because they had plenty of chances.

“We squandered chances too, but possibly a six-point lead was the target. We didn’t see a target but six was probably in my own head, that was the target, and we got it so we were happy. We got the result at the end, so I’m happy.”