Antrim U14 hurlers made the long trip to Wicklow centre of excellence in Rathdrum on Saturday 31st August for their All-Ireland finals day. With a panel of 43 we had the luxury of entering two teams.
Antrim 1 were in a group which consisted of Kildare and Westmeath. After a slow start and playing into a strong breeze we held a 4 point advantage. The boys lifted their game in the second half and ended up running out comfortable winners with a score line of 4-09 to 1-05. The second game was a much tighter affair against a strong physical and skilful Westmeath team. Again after a slow start the boys lifted the intensity and got the last two scores of the half (a goal and a point) to go in one point down. With all the momentum, we produced a great second half display to win by a goal on a score line of 2-09 to 1-09. After a 15 minute break the boys played a Carlow team which had beaten Wicklow and Laois on their way to the final! The boys hit the ground running in the final and held a half time score line of 1-04 to 0-01. A few wasteful scoring opportunities early in the second half kept Carlow in the game and wind assisted they got the first few scores. The boys dug deep, took some great scores and ended up All-Ireland champions on a score line of 3-09 to 0-06!
Antrim 2 played Carlow 2 in the semi-final; the boys flew out of the blocks and didn’t give Carlow any opportunities to get into the game. The boys intensity and attitude was unreal and they ran out comfortable winners on a score line of 5-18 to 0-02. Next up in the final was Kildare 2 which was a very tight game. We missed a few opportunities early on which in the end would cost us the game; we went in a goal down at half time and against a strong breeze it was always going to be a big ask. The lads put in a monumental display in the second half but came up just short on a score line of Antrim 2-08 Kildare 2-12.
The mentors would like to thank all the parents for not only their support on Saturday but for their support throughout the year. Secondly we would like to thank the lads, they have been a credit to their parents, club and county. They have trained hard all year and in the end got their rewards!
