The Cuchullains are bidding to reclaim the county title after missing out on the decider last year, with a dominant 5-21 to 0-6 semi-final victory over Glenariffe securing their return to Sunday's refixed showpiece at McQuillan Park in Ballycastle.

Dunloy ended an 89-year wait to win the Antrim Senior Football Championship last year, but their title defence ended in the semi-finals this season, allowing their dual players to turn their full attention to hurling.

"It's far from easy," Elliott told BBC Sport NI's Mark Sidebottom.

"As in football management and Hurling, we work very closely together to try and manage the load of the players, so that comes with its own problems, and keeping everybody fit, and having everybody coming in at the right time.

"We would both want more access to the players at certain times, but we have to compromise on both sides to keep the show on the road.

"County finals are never easy, but this is exactly where we wanted to be. We were massively disappointed with how last year ended, so we made it our mission to make it back to the final."

'Football defeat was a kick in the teeth'

Dunloy forward Keelan Molloy, who scored an early goal in their semi-final victory over Glenariffe, echoed his manager's assessment of the challenges facing the club's dual players.

"You're week in, week out, and any chance you can get to get a break, a week off, it's everything for us," Molloy said.

"Getting beat in football was a real kick in the teeth, but we couldn't linger on it too much because we knew we had the hurling to focus back on."

Glenariffe had produced one of the shocks of the championship by eliminating defending champions St John's in the quarter-finals, but Dunloy made a blistering start to their last-four encounter.

"I just didn't expect to get a chance like that that early, so when I took it I thought, right, we've started well here, we're on it," Molloy said.

"We put a lot of focus into Glenariffe, we gave them the respect that they deserve, because they have improved during the championship."

Elliott also has injury concerns, with Antrim hurler Eoin O'Neill a "massive doubt" because of a shoulder injury, while full-back Darren McMullan has also required treatment.

Molloy, meanwhile, admits Cushendall will be weakened by the absence of experienced defender Paddy Burke, who is recovering from hip surgery.

"Paddy's a great player. His brother's not far behind him now; I had him in the group stage, and they're definitely cut from the same cloth," Molloy said.

"It's definitely a bit of an advantage for us, him not being there."

Dunloy will be hoping to repeat their group-stage victory over Cushendall, although Elliott acknowledges the familiarity between the sides leaves little room for surprises.

"We've played them already in the group stages this year, so we've had a good look at Cushendall, as they will have had a good look at us," he said.

"They know our players as well as we know their players, we know their strengths, we will look at where we think they may have some weaknesses that we can exploit.

"We know with Cushendall, they know how to win championships, so do we, so it makes for a very, very interesting final."