Leinster Senior Hurling Championship – Round 1 – Sunday 21 April
Antrim 0-13 Kilkenny 5-30
Brendan McTaggart reports from UMPC Nolan Park, Kilkenny
A demolition job.
Antrim came to Nolan Park with hope and left with more questions than answers on Sunday afternoon as the Cats tore them asunder.
It was a clinical, professional performance from Kilkenny who played with incredible intensity, accuracy and just a level above anything Antrim could produce.
32 points – a bit of a beating in any man’s book but when you consider they had 13 different scorers and 4-11 off the bench, perhaps this was a statement performance from last years beaten All Ireland finalists?
They had the luxury of taking off TJ Reid with 25 minutes of the game remaining but the ace marksman was on the field long enough to score 1-3 and show that there’s life in the old dog yet. His movement off the ball and aerial ability left those in attendance drooling if not purring. It was a masterclass that Antrim couldn’t contain but he was that good, there was plenty in the country who wouldn’t.
Antrim set up with a game plan where they looked to suffocate the middle third and defence. They looked to engage in a short passing game, have runners off the shoulder to try and penetrate the Kilkenny defence but they looked lacklustre in comparison to the Cats. Too many passes went astray, too many passes misplaced, some would argue too many passes?
Any joy that did come in a Saffron shirt was short-lived but there were occasions when the footwork of James McNaughton and cunning of Eoghan Campbell had the Kilkenny defence scampering. Those moments were fleeting, at best.
They could and probably should have had a penalty in the 10th minute when Eoghan Campbell had a sight of Eoin Murphy’s goal. He was brought down with the Kilkenny defence on his heels, referee Shane Haynes gave a free and yellow card. From the angle I was watching, it certainly looked like Campbell was felled in the square, not so in the eyes of the Galway referee.
After a solid opening quarter where Antrim trailed by just a point, the home side looked to click into a higher gear. 1-4 in the space of three minutes with midfielder Cian Kenny and Martin Keoghan finding their range but it was TJ Reid who produced the moment of magic to give his side the injection of momentum. A high ball from Paddy Deegan was fetched from the Kilkenny City sky as Reid leapt above Ryan McGarry. An incredible catch that was matched with his finish on the 17th minute. He had been relatively quiet up until that moment but he oozed class from then on.
Kilkenny had their foot on the proverbial Antrim throat at that stage and were awarded a penalty just two minutes later when Tom Phelan was felled by Ryan Elliott. The referee gave the Antrim ‘keeper a black card and awarded the home side a penalty – further compounding the frustration at Campbell’s incident merely minutes earlier. Tiarnan Smyth came on for Niall McKenna as a temporary substitution and with the young Ballycastle native coming in for some flack with his performances between the sticks for Antrim this year but he pulled off a quite brilliant save to deny TJ Reid from adding to his tally from the resulting penalty.
Any time Antrim looked to break free, Kilkenny were their match but Conal Cunning’s frees kept the scoreboard turning. He would finish with 0-5 from placed ball in the first half with further scores coming from James McNaughton and Conor McCann – the Creggan man finishing a well worked move in the 23rd minute.
An 11 point deficit at half time which was probably a fair reflection of the first 35 minutes. Antrim did look like they were frustrating Kilkenny at different times in the first half but Derek Lyng’s charges were simply irresistible in the second half. The loss of Eoin Cody soon after the restart will worry the Kilkenny management with what looked like a knee injury but his replacement gave a stunning performance. Owen Wall’s 30 minute cameo saw him score 3-2 while fellow substitute Billy Drennan finished with 1-6 in a 25 minute performance.
Kilkenny lorded the second half and Antrim chased shadows in what felt like a procession. The Cats looked to be levels ahead of Antrim with the Saffron’s seemingly lacking energy, intensity and just couldn’t match the work rate needed to compete with the Cats.
A rude awakening? We all want to see how we match up against the likes of Kilkenny. On this showing, we’re some way off it. It’s sufficient to say that there’s work ahead if Antrim are going to make any inroads in the Leinster Championship. Wexford travel to Corrigan Park next Saturday reeling from conceding two late goals against Dublin to only share the points on offer. They’ll come with a point to prove, on this showing, so do Antrim.
TEAMS
Antrim: Ryan Elliott; Phelim Duffin, Ryan McGarry, Paddy Burke; Scott Walsh, Eoghan Campbell, Conal Bohill; James McNaughton, Niall O’Connor; Michael Bradley, Nigel Elliott, Niall McKenna; Conal Cunning, Conor McCann, Seaan Elliott
Scorers: C Cunning 0-7 (7 fs); J McNaughton 0-2; E Campbell 0-1; C Bohill 0-1; N Elliott 0-1; C McCann 0-1
Kilkenny: Eoin Murphy; Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Shane Murphy; David Blanchfield, Paddy Deegan, Mikey Carey; Cian Kenny, Richie Reid; Adrian Mullen, Eoin Cody, John Donnelly; Martin Keoghan, TJ Reid, Tom Phelan
Scorers: Owen Wall 3-2; Billy Drennan 1-6 (1-00 pen, 2 f’s 1’65); TJ Reid 1-5 (1f 1’65); M Keoghan 0-3; J Donnelly 0-3; C Kenny 0-3; P Deegan 0-2; S Murphy 0-1; M Carey 0-1; R Reid 0-1; A Mullen 0-1; Jordan Molloy 0-1; Gearoid Dunne 0-1
