Antrim 1-8 – 2-21 Kilkenny
GAA Centre of Excellence Abbottstown
Electric Ireland Minor Hurling Championship
Despite grabbing an early lead, when Roan McGarry fired in the first goal of the game, Antrim were playing second fiddle to a well drilled and confident Kilkenny team in Saturday’s Leinster Minor Hurling Championshp round robin game at the GAA Centre of Excellence at Abbotstown, Dublin
The Antrim side were still well in the game after twenty minutes, but they missed a lot of chances from frees and from play during that opening half, and when they went in six behind at the break they had a mountain to climb
With full-forward’s Mikey Stynes and Brian Moore creating havoc up front Antrim were under a lot of pressure, Irish International schoolboy soccer player Moore proving a real handful.
Having played against the breeze in the first half Antrim felt they would be in with a good chance if they could keep the deficit down to 3 or 4 points, but when the gap was stretched to six at the break they knew it would be tough to get back into contention
Roan McGarry, who had an excellent game, ending up with 1-3 to his name, pointed another free nearing half time but that was as good as it got, and the young Saffron trailed by 6 at the break.
Antrim had their chances in the second half when McGarry hit the post with two frees, but luck was not on the side of the Saffron’s.
Ciaran Baudant in action against Kilkenny’s Brian Moore.
Orrin O’Connor cut the deficit with two excellent points and Liam Glackin would pop up with another fantastic point after the defender caught the oncoming Kilkenny puck-out and struck from distance.
Antrim found themselves on the side of misfortune once again as their momentum was completely derailed. Kilkenny forward Greg Kelly latched onto a loose ball and drove into the gaping Antrim defence before burying his effort beyond Anthony Mullan to make it 1-17 – 1-5.
Mullan would be called into action once again after Bill McDermott drilled a shot from inside the 13-yard line, but the Antrim keeper pulled off a fantastic stop to prevent the half-forward from scoring.
McDermott found himself in on goal again shortly after but didn’t leave the keeper a chance as his shot would prove too powerful to stop this time. Orrin O’Connor and Padraig Martin would score a point apiece for the Saffs but would be mere consolations as Kilkenny would register a few more scores on the board.
Antrim manager Alan Rainey spoke about how the performance made him “proud” and that the score-line doesn’t reflect on his side’s performance.
“I cannot fault any of the boy’s effort, especially in the first 30 minutes we battled hard and played some great hurling and we put it up to Kilkenny. Obviously the second half didn’t go as planned and we will look back on training and work on the areas of weakness but none of the boys are disheartened because they know they have what it takes and are getting better all the time. Even in training it was full-blooded no stopping from any of the players”.
Kilkenny would run out worthy winners, but Antrim showed resilience and determination right until the final whistle with hope with the squad is high as they now look to rectify this result when they take on Laois on April 7th.
Antrim’s Callagh Mooney
Antrim: A Mullan, R Cunning, C Baudant, J Scullion, N Magee, L Glackin 0-1, C McCauley, E McGurk, B O’Kane, R Fitzgerald, D Donnelly, L McEnhill, R McGarry 1-3 (2 frees), O O’Connor 0-3 (1 free), P Martin 0-1
Subs: S McLaren, C Mooney, C Kane, P McDonnell, S Blaney, R Scott, C Shortt, F Jemfrey, O Cosgrove
Kilkenny: B O’Sullivan, C Brophy, E Murphy, D Barcoe, J Henderson, R Garrett, M Ahern, D Vereker, E Cahill, B McDermott 1-2, E Lauhoff 0-2, G Kelly 1-4, C Doyle 0-5, M Stynes 0-4, B Moore 0-4
