Hi °C | Lo °C Antrim will be in seventh heaven if they can land the Ulster senior hurling championship title when they meet Down at Casement park, Belfast on Sunday.
For the past six seasons the Saffrons have been the undisputed kings of Ulster and a seventh crown would further cement their total authority within the province.
In contrast, their opponents, currently facing grave injury problems, have to go back to 1997 for their last provincial triumph.
Gareth Johnson, Fintan Conway, Ruairi McGrattan, Kieran Courtney and Simon Wilson are expected to be out of the Down equation for Sunday.
Even without scaling the heights in the current campaign, Antrim have already flashed out a warning that they are unwilling to part with their prize.
Joint managers Terence McNaughton and Dominic McKinley have brought former Saffrons boss Jim Nelson in as statistician and analyst and his extensive know-how is viewed as a huge boost to the management structure.
Antrim beat Derry by 2-17 to 1-12 in their semi-final after being pushed in the early stages by Brian McGilligan's young side while Down beat London by 4-16 to 1-16 in the other semi-final.
Antrim boast a solid core of experience with skipper Paddy Richmond, centre-half-back Karl McKeegan (pictured), full-forward Liam Watson and the Herron brothers Ciaran and Michael among their key players.
Irrespective of the outcome of Sunday's decider, Antrim are already booked into the All-Ireland qualifiers in which they will play Galway in the first round on June 28 at Casement Park. Down will compete for the Christy Ring Cup.
Both teams, though, are keen to approach their future championship engagements on the All Ireland stage as Ulster champions - and Antrim may enter seventh heaven in advance of that Galway showdown.
