Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
Round 5
Antrim v Carlow
Sunday 26 May
Throw in: 2pm
Referee: James Owens (Wexford)
It’s all on the line this Sunday as Antrim welcome Carlow to Corrigan Park in a do-or-die clash with the Barrowsiders. Just like last year, Antrim’s fate in the Leinster Championship and Liam McCarthy status for 2025 comes down to the last day. Another performance like that against Westmeath in Mullingar would go a long, long way to securing that status.
It won’t be that easy though. It never is against Carlow. The last three meetings have been hellish close with Antrim claiming two wins in Corrigan and a draw in Netwatch Dr Cullen Park. That draw came through the sheer belligerence of Domhnall Nugent to plough his way through a packed defence and hammer a last minute goal.
The last defeat against Carlow came in 2017 in the Christy Ring final. There won’t be many who will need reminding about that game. The games since have been full of incident and action. The one constant? Drama.
Sunday is the last outing of the year for Darren Gleeson’s side in a season where we hoped for a few more weeks. The Antrim manager himself would tell you the same. There was talk of targeting certain games to get the points required. That win against Wexford soon eroded the painful memory of the trip to Kilkenny the week previous. A second half capitulation against Dublin came before the game against Galway where Antrim can feel hard done-by. Ultimately it was a defeat and it’s come down to this. Carlow in what is effectively a relegation play-off.
The Barrowsiders have been making waves themselves this year. As I pulled out of Parnell Park a few weeks ago after the Dublin game, I switched on the radio to hear whatever commentary there was available. An attempt to forget what had transpired. It brought news of Carlow taking Kilkenny deep and eventually getting a well earned share of the points.
They’ve put in good displays against Galway and Dublin and will certainly be disappointed with their display against Wexford where, had the results gone their way, they could have had their eyes on a bigger prize come Sunday.
But, like Antrim, the dice didn’t roll their way.
So far, Marty Kavanagh has been at his mesmeric best from placed ball and leads the way for them in the scoring charts. He has had plenty of support from the likes of Chris Nolan, Conor Kehoe and Paddy Boland. With Richard Coady still pulling the strings and the likes of James Doyle coming off the bench, Antrim will need to get their match-ups sorted. Looking back on my notes from the previous matches against Carlow, it was Doyle who scored 4 goals against us in Croke Park in the Christy Ring final (three in the last 10 minutes of the first half) and while he did little in Corrigan Park the following year, the battle he had with Woody McKinley was fantastic viewing. Carlow ploughed every high ball his way and Woody was relishing the challenge.
Back to Sunday.
Antrim will be without Ryan McGarry who got a red card against Galway. I won’t get into that one again but it was a ridiculous call and that’s all I’ll say on that matter. Who they bring in may not be just as straight forward. Eoghan Campbell could drop a little deeper and play McGarry’s role, allowing Michael Bradley to start, fitness permitting. That would be my call with little other changes to note. If Conal Cunning’s recovered from the injury that saw him sidelined against Galway then he may come in for Rian McMullan who didn’t get much joy from the Tribesmen. I think ‘Bubbles’ is better suited as an impact sub, a finisher rather than starting but trying to second guess what team Gleeson puts out has proven to be extremely difficult and the chances are I could be way off the mark! There are injury concerns with those mention with Campbell having to come off early against Galway along with Conall Bohill.
One thing is for sure, it’s going to take a massive effort against Carlow to ensure Antrim stay at the top-table. The Saffrons seem to rise to a different level while playing at Corrigan Park and they’ll need to do that again on Sunday. In the past week, Gleeson has gone on record asking for a massive support to turn out for his team and show Carlow what all the fuss is about when it comes to playing his Antrim side in Corrigan. It’s been a rollercoaster of a ride for Gleeson’s side this year and Sunday is not a given. Antrim will be up against a quality side who last year showed their battling championship qualities, coming from the brink in the McDonagh Cup final to defeat Offaly. Antrim will give it everything they have, we need to give them all we have too. Go to Corrigan Park on Sunday, be the 16th man. Bring the noise, create the atmosphere.
Be. The. Difference.
Saffrons Abu
Previous meetings with Carlow….
2017 vs Carlow – Christy Ring Cup
Antrim 4-15 Carlow 5-23
TEAMS
Antrim: Chrissy O’Connell; Simon McCrory; John Dillon; Stephen Rooney; Ciaran Johnston; Paddy Burke; Arron Graffin; Conor McKinely (0-1); Paul Shiels (0-1); Neal McAuley; Conor McCann; Eoghan Campbell (1-00); Conor Johnston; Neil McManus (1-2, 1-1 free); Ciaran Clarke (2-9, 7 frees, 1 ’65)
Subs: Niall McKenna for N McAuley (26 mins); Daniel McKernan (0-1) for C McCann; Paddy McGill (0-1) for P Shiels (48 mins); Matthew Donnelly for J Dillon (50 mins); Conal Cunning for Conor Johnston (67 mins)
Carlow: James O’Carroll; Alan Corcoran; Paul Doyle; Gary Bennett; Richard Coady; David English; Richard Kelly (0-1); Jack Kavanagh; Diarmuid Byrne (0-3); John Michael Nolan (0-2); Martin Kavanagh 1-3, 1 free); James Doyle (4-1); Denis Murphy (0-11, 11 frees) Eddie Byrne; Paul Coady (0-1)
Subs: Kevin McDonald for J Kavanagh (43 mins); Chris Nolan (0-1) for P Coady (46 mins); Seamus Murphy for D Byrne (58 mins); Jack Murphy for D Murphy (68 mins); Seán Whelan for J Doyle (inj)
2018 vs Carlow – McDonagh Cup
Antrim 2-16 Carlow 0-19
TEAMS
Antrim: Ryan Elliott; Stephen Rooney, John Dillon, Conor McKinley; Joe Maskey, Paddy Burke, Ryan McCambridge; Eoghan Campbell, Simon McCrory; Nigel Elliott, Conor Johnston, Neil McManus; Donal McKinley, Michael Armstrong, Conor McCann
Subs: James McNaughton for D McKinley (46); Eddie McCloskey for C McCann (59); David Kearney for J Maskey (60); Neal McAuley for R McCambridge (inj); Conor Carson for M Armstrong (inj)
Carlow: Brian Tracey; Alan Corcoan, Paul Doyle, Michael Doyle; Richard Coady, David English, Dairmuid Byrne; Jack Kavanagh, Kevin McDonald; John-Michael Nolan, Paul Coady, Edward Byrne; James Doyle, Denis Murphy, Ross Smither
Subs: Chris Nolan for R Smithers (46); Dion Wall for M Doyle (62); Jack Murphy for E Byrne (67); Conor Foley for P Coady (inj); Seamus Murphy for D Murphy (inj)
Scorers for Antrim: Neil McManus 1-8 (7f); Nigel Elliott 1-2; Conor Johnston 0-2 (1f); Michael Armstrong 0-1; Joe Maskey 0-1; Eoghan Campbell 0-1; Eddie McCloskey 0-1
Scorers for Carlow: Denis Murphy 0-11 (7f); James Doyle 0-2; John-Michael Nolan 0-2; Chris Nolan 0-2; Conor Foley 0-2
2020 vs Carlow – McDonagh Cup
Antrim 5-16 Carlow 2-25
Teams
ANTRIM: Ryan Elliott, Phelim Duffin, Matthew Donnelly, Stephen Rooney, Gerard Walsh, Paddy Burke (0-1), Joe Maskey, Eoghan Campbell, Ryan McGarry, Niall McKenna (0-3), Keelan Molloy (0-2), Conal Cunning (0-1), Dan McCloskey (0-1), Conor McCann (1-1), Ciaran Clarke (2-7, 1-5f, 0-1 65).
SUBS: James McNaughton (1-0) for Dan McCloskey (46), Domhnall Nugent (1-0) for Ryan McGarry (53), Damon McMullan for Stephen Rooney (58), Aodhán O’Brien for Gerard Walsh (62)
CARLOW: Brian Tracey, Michael Doyle, Paul Doyle, Gary Bennett, Ger Coady, David English, Richard Coady, Jack Kavanagh (0-3), Paul Coady, John Michael Nolan (1-1), Diarmuid Byrne (0-1), Edward Byrne (1-2), Martin Kavanagh (0-7, 0-4f), Kevin McDonald (0-2), Ted Joyce (0-2).
SUBS: John Nolan (0-2) for Richard Coady (HT), Chris Nolan (0-5) for Ted Joyce (40), Aaron Amond for Paul Coady (61), Cathal Tracey for Jack Kavanagh (71)
2022 vs Carlow – McDonagh Cup
Antrim 2-22 Carlow 1-22
TEAMS
Antrim: Ryan Elliott; Phelim Duffin, Gerard Walsh, Niall O’Connor; Paddy Burke, Eoghan Campbell, Conal Bohill; Joe Maskey, James McNaughton; Seaan Elliott, Domhnall Nugent, Conor McCann; Conal Cunning, Ciaran Clarke, Neil McManus
Subs: Michael Bradley for J McNaughton (46); Eoin O’Neill for N McManus (50); Daniel McKernan for D Nugent (56); Niall McKenna for C McCann (62); Aaron Bradley for J Maskey (inj)
Scorers: C Cunning 1-11 (10 f’s); S Elliott 0-3; N McManus 1-00; C Clarke 0-2; P Burke 0-2; C Bohill 0-2; J Maskey 0-1; E O’Neill 0-1
Carlow: Brian Tracey; Paul Doyle, Conor Lawlor, Michael Doyle; Jack McCullagh, Diarmuid Byrne, Richard Coady; Fiachra Fitzpatrick, Conor Kehoe; Sean Murphy, Chris Nolan, Kevin McDonald; John Michael Nolan, Martin Kavanagh, Paul Coady
Subs: Jon Nolan for K McDonald (63); John Doyle for S Murphy (inj)
Scorers: M Kavanagh 0-11 (9f’s); C Nolan 1-4 (1f); K McDonald 0-2; D Byrne 0-1; R Coady 0-1; F Fitzpatrick 0-1; JM Nolan 0-1; C Kehoe 0-1
