Allianz Hurling League – Roinn 1B

Antrim v Laois

Sunday 9 March 

Venue: Corrigan Park, Belfast

Throw in: 1pm

Referee: Michael Kennedy (Tipperary)

Brendan McTaggart speaks with Antrim manager, Davy Fitzgerald ahead of Sunday’s National Hurling League game against Laois

It’s all or nothing on Sunday afternoon as Antrim welcome Laois to Corrigan Park in their last round of league fixtures.  Lose and it’s a return to Division 2 and while a win won’t guarantee their status in 1B, it would certainly go a long way in securing it for the 2026 season.

After their match in Carlow, there was a certain ‘feel good’ factor around the camp again.  It may have been a share of the spoils but there was a definite corner turned under Davy Fitzgerald’s tutelage.  That last 20 or so minutes was as good as anything Antrim have produced this year and while the opening half was for the majority of it, solid, that 70 plus minutes was a major step in the right direction for Davy and his team.

A last gasp draw, literally with the last puck of the sliotar, Antrim didn’t exactly celebrate but the confidence they’ll get from that result can’t be understated.  It was a huge effort against a side who were riding high coming into that came and who have notoriously given the Saffrons plenty of headaches in the recent past.  As Justin McCormick said to me on the Dr Cullen Park pitch after the game: “What is it about our games with Carlow?”

When we spoke with Davy Fitzgerald, he gave a further analysis of the game but was delighted with the fight his side showed: “We spoke at length about the fight the lads showed.  We were eight points down and managed to turn that around.  Forget about tactics for a second and look at the fight these lads showed and that’s been missing, I’ve been looking for it in the recent games but they showed me the fight they have in them.”

Despite not being at their usual, accurate self from frees, Fitzgerald said that he knows that his free takers will come good when required: “We missed 1-6 from placed ball.  You look at the top sides and their sitting at over 90% from frees but I’ve every faith in our free takers that they’ll improve on that.  If we do similar against Laois, they will beat us.  I’ve no doubt of that.”

So what was different?  What clicked against a very good Carlow side?  Fitzgerald said that the change of mindset is important for the fight but pinpointed another facet that they’ve been working on: “Variation is so important.  There were certain times when we run into trouble but the lads need to know when to release.  There’s one or two of them struggling with that, they know who they are but they are working incredibly hard on that and I know that will change.

“We can’t just be hitting the ball long into the opposition ’45 all the time.  I’ve did the work on the last couple of seasons on how Antrim set up and what we needed to improve on.  Puck outs was one of the big things.  It’s that variation that I keep talking about and we’ve done a lot of work on that.  It’s starting to come good now, is it where I want it to be?  No, but it’s going in the right direction.

“I said it from day one that things might get worse before they get better and yeah we’ve taken a couple of beatings but I can see the improvements already.  It is coming. 

“You wouldn’t believe the work these lads are putting in.  The commitment that they’ve shown.  People need to understand that we’re trying different things, have we come across something that’s going to work?  I hope so but we’ll see what happens against Laois.”

In the last week, if you haven’t heard about the bug that has hit the Antrim camp, what rock have you been living under?  It’s made for less than perfect circumstances to prepare for what is Antrim’s biggest match of the year.  As many as 12, possibly 13 players have been affected, and the Antrim management team have had to cut their cloth accordingly since.  With players missing training and different plans in place for tonight’s (Friday) training, Fitzgerald is leaving it for as long as possible before naming his 15: “There has been a sickness in the camp.  Some sort of gastric bug with 13 or 14 players falling down with it.  It has had an effect on our preparations but look, we won’t be looking to use that as an excuse.  Do I know if all those effected will be recovered?  I would really doubt it.  Some of the lads will be playing who haven’t recovered but we’ll have a group of players going out there committed and prepared to do whatever they can to make sure we beat Laois on Sunday.”

This match against Laois has been on the horizon since the fixtures were released.  With how the schedule has been thrown together, Antrim’s ‘bye’ week is next week meaning those involved at the bottom end of the table are playing next week again.  For Laois, they have a further two matches after Sunday due to storms and waterlogged pitches but for Antrim it’s simple, a win is a must.  It’s their biggest match of the year to date and as Davy signed off by saying: “I hope to see a big crowd there on Sunday” lets get out to the Whiterock Road, get into Corrigan Park and get behind these lads.  Corrigan Park is for now, our home.  There’s been clambers of #CorriganOrNowhere in the past 24 hours or so but for Sunday, Corrigan is the only place to be. 

Saffrons Abu