By Cian O'Connell

Slaughtneil are getting used to dealing with Ulster glory and All Ireland Semi-Finals, but Cormac O'Doherty is simply focused on carrying out his duties with the minimum of fuss.

Provincial titles were gathered in Gaelic Football, Hurling, and Camogie at the end of 2016 and now a fascinating match with St Vincent's is scheduled for this afternoon (Saturday).

"From a dual perspective it’s been about trying to balance the two of them," O'Doherty says ahead of the Vincent's clash.

"It was unbelievable, but it’s sort of died down, the Camogie girls went and won their All-Ireland semi-final . You just can’t wait to play your own semi-final.

"You try to hide away from all the talk, people can get carried away very easily and you don’t want to get that in your head too much. It’s just about doing whatever works for you and for me personally it’s trying to stay away from all the hype and focus on your own job.

"You love pulling on the Slaughtneil jersey and it’s an honour to do it."

O'Doherty admits that Slaughtneil 'thrive on the small community' in their decorated club. "We are used to it, two years ago in the football we played Corofin in the All-Ireland final," O'Doherty remarked.

"They had a big pick to select from, we thrive on the small community. It makes everybody a wee bit tighter, it helps when you got on the pitch because you know everybody and you are doing it as much for the supporters as you are for yourself and the team.

"We didn’t perform two years ago whenever we got to the All-Ireland Football Final. We have more youth probably now than there was. The experience of two years ago will probably stand to us, but as a whole it’s still nine or 10 of the same team.

"To have played one semi-final and won one, to get over that hurdle and get to an All-Ireland final, it just whets the appetite."