'Resilience key to Johnnies title win' - McCallin

St John's centre-back Peter McCallin was due to fly back to Australia on Tuesday, but said "I might have to push that back for Ulster" as he played a starring role in the Belfast club's first Antrim hurling title since 1973.

The Johnnies were 2-16 to 1-18 victors over Loughgiel to return to claim their eighth Volunteer Cup and will now look forward to a provincial semi-final on the weekend of 15/16 November against Donegal champions Setanta.

However, first on the agenda is toasting their stirring win in Ballycastle as St John's put years of semi-final heartbreak behind them to make the most of their first return to Antrim's showpiece since 1994.

Although many considered the Belfast side outsiders going into Sunday's final, McCallin said he and his team-mates knew they were "capable" of coming through.

"That last minute was probably the longest of my life, but it's so special to get over the line," he told BBC Sport NI.

"We don't even know how to celebrate properly. That is a lifetime of work, not just five or six years, but from we were knee high.

"We knew we were capable of doing that and it's been resilience that came through. It all paid off today.

"We knew we'd show up and put in a performance for 60, 65 minutes. We proved that against Rossa (when scoring 1-1 to win the quarter-final in injury-time) when in other years that happened to us. This year we have shown we can push on and give Ulster a good crack."

If resilience was the buzz word for St John's on their run to the title, McCallin epitomised that spirit with a man-of-the-match performance.

With Loughgiel raiding or what would have been and equalising goal in stoppage time, the centre-back threw himself in front of a Ben McGarry shot to deny the Shamrocks' wing-back at a vital stage.

However, it wasn't just this moment which proved inspirational for the Belfast club, but his journey to get there.

He has endured tough times on and off the field, recovering from two cruciate knee injuries over his 10-year senior career, while also dealing with the loss of his mother, Lisa back in 2020.

"No matter what, when things are going bad, you go back to the club," he reflected on what was an emotional day.

"Through difficult times, these lads (team-mates) I would class as my brothers. They've always been there for me when I was going through tough times and vice versa, I'll be there for them."

Antrim hurler Conall Bohill hailed that late intervention from McCallin afterwards, saying "that's Peter - if you watch a league game in February, he's doing that and will do it in training".

Bohill also produced a big performance, landing a vital point at a crucial stage to help banish the memory of so many near misses over the previous decade that made their title win so much sweeter.

"We've been knocking at the door for eight, nine, 10 years - finally it opened," he said.

"After six, seven, eight semi-finals (defeats) you're wondering if this day will ever come, but it makes all the heartache worth it.

"It would be easy to say after so long that it's not going to be our time but pure resilience to come back every year. This makes it all worth it."