ALL-IRELAND CLUB HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP: Ex-Dunloy boss Séamus Elliott explains to Sean Moran why he believes the Antrim club aren't finished yet.

After the nail-biting win over Mount Sion on Sunday, Ulster hurling champions Dunloy have a month to work out how to stop Birr winning an unprecedented fourth All-Ireland club hurling title.

One man who knows the scale of that task is Séamus Elliott, who up to last year was Dunloy's manager and whose years included two All-Ireland clashes with the Offaly club.

Elliott believes that the final on St Patrick's Day will be a matter of preparation, with the emphasis on hurling.

"Dunloy have to sit down and do their homework. The semi-final's over and no one remembers beaten finalists.

"I believe the mental barrier is more or less away and that it will be down to homework. Dunloy know they can beat them because they had every chance to do it in 1995 and last year. They won't have problems that way."

Eight years ago, Birr were hot favourites as the clubs met in an All-Ireland final. On a foul day, with the old Hogan Stand rattling under the staccato clatter of hailstones, Dunloy were unlucky to be caught for a draw.

If Dunloy were frozen physically that day, the freeze was mental in the replay and they trailed 2-7 to zero at half-time.

"I think the lesson to be learned from that day was that Dunloy were happy enough to be in a final," according to Elliott, "and it took a while for the opportunity to sink in. In '96, the nerves took over."

That second year they were beaten by a Sixmilebridge team, who had riddled opponents in the club championship (the All-Ireland final was the third time that they had hit five goals in the campaign).

Even so, the match was competitive until the final quarter. Elliott's view is that this experience and the succession of semi-finals have given Dunloy a confidence against teams from the hurling strongholds of the south.

Sunday's victory means that Dunloy have now beaten the champions of every other province in an All-Ireland semi-final.

"They have learned that they are quite capable of competing at this level," says their former manager.

"In the past, Ulster teams have had a habit when playing southern teams of feeling that they're up against fellas with two heads and three arms. That's gone now."

Elliott's is a naturally upbeat analysis. But couldn't it be as easily argued that, whereas the team has had some famous victories at the semi-final stage, their best form has deserted them in finals?

"There's no doubt about it that we should have beaten Birr and were very disappointing against Sixmilebridge, and it took time to get over that.

"But the team is now a good blend of youth and experience and yesterday (Sunday) the experienced players worked very hard. It takes that mixture."

Elliott's successor, Seán McLean, had a background more notable for football than hurling.

It's not generally known that the club itself was primarily a football unit, which had a period of great success in the 1940s when Antrim football enjoyed its last spell in the senior limelight.

In the same decade, hurling started up, but it wouldn't be until 1990 that the club won its first county senior title in the code.

Since then, Dunloy has won eight of the 13 Antrim championships, qualifying for three All-Ireland finals, including next month's.

Located in the middle of Antrim's hurling territory, Dunloy is between Loughgiel, Cushendall and Ballycastle.

The village is a nationalist enclave and hurling has helped alter the perception of a parades flashpoint.

"That's the national view of Dunloy - keeping Orangemen from walking the streets and that's being honest," says Elliott.

As has been the case in Crossmaglen with football, hurling has helped change that image into something a lot more positive.

Another positive spin-off has been financial. Locals in Dunloy couldn't believe the odds on offer.

"I know somebody," says Elliott, "who got them at 7 to 1 for the semi-final and 14 to 1 for the final. A rub of the green and they could be there."