O’Neills Leinster U20 Hurling Championship – Tier 2
Antrim 2-23 Westmeath 1-15
Saturday 29 March
By Brendan McTaggart
Antrim put in a strong performance in Mullingar to get their Leinster u20 championship off to a winning start on Saturday afternoon. 11 points was the difference between the sides at the end of an hour that saw the Saffrons start slowly in both halves but such was their recovery from that, it will merely be seen as a footnote to the game.
Fiontan Bradley maintained his excellent form at this level by top scoring for the Saffrons with 1-9 beside his name and just five of those coming from placed ball but he was edged out of the Man of The Match accolade by the returning Jack McCloskey. In his first start of the campaign, McCloskey was at his electric best. He finished with seven points beside his name and tortured the Westmeath defence with his pace and trickery and was part of an inside forward line that shone.
The two Antrim goals came in either half from Bradley and Aodhan McGarry, the latter coming seven minutes into the second half that gave Antrim an eight point lead but the concession of a soft goal for the home side gave Westmeath a glimmer of hope. The Saffrons went through the gears in the final quarter however and finished superbly, adding 10 points with six unanswered before the long whistle.
The home side got off to a fast start and had four points on the board inside the opening five minutes – one each for Cormac McKeogh and Calum McKeogh either side of a brace of frees from Dylan Corrigan. Corrigan would finish top scorer for his side with six of his eight points coming from placed ball.
Antrim began to find their feet in the game and restricted Westmeath to just another five points in the time that remained in the half and a period of dominance for 20 minutes that saw them turn the screw.
Four points in as many minutes from Oran Donnelly, Niall Magee, Bradley and McCloskey were answered by a Cody Ward point in the 12th minute before the first goal of the game. Donnelly and Bradley combining before the Cushendall man fired to the back of the net and give the Saffrons the lead. It could have been even better with the next attack when Donnelly deflected the sliotar into the back of the net from a long delivery but he was penalised for a square-ball infringement but scores from McCloskey (two) and Thomas McLaughlin stretched the Antrim lead to five.
Antrim were creating chances and space in the Westmeath defence and could have had another couple of majors but Bradley and Joseph McLaughlin were both denied by some last-gasp defending.
Westmeath seemed to have weathered the Saffron storm and outscored Antrim four points to three in the time that remained of the first half to leave the half time score 1-10 to 0-9 in Antrim’s favour.
It was largely an excellent from Antrim who played with huge intensity. Their slick passing and movement nullified the elements, the four point margin at half time was the minimum they deserved and gave Antrim an excellent platform for the second half.
The lead was stretched to five before McGarry found the back of the Westmeath net in the 37th minute. Collecting a sideline from Joseph McLaughlin, McGarry’s touch took him beyond the Westmeath challenges before he produced an expert finish.
The home side responded superbly however. Another point from Calum McKeogh was followed by a fortuitous goal in the 41st minute. Ivan Smyth making the most of a spill from Eoghan Richmond in the Antrim goals and punished the error to leave four between the sides going into the final quarter.
While it may have been easy to put their head down following the sucker-punch, Antrim found another gear and were relentless to the final whistle. They outscored Westmeath 10 points to three with just three of those white flags coming from placed ball to give Antrim a comfortable win in the end.
The pleasing aspect of the finish has to be the intensity levels the whole team showed right to the end. They were relentless and never gave Westmeath an inch with their tackling and press all over the pitch. McCloskey and Bradley will take the plaudits but there should be a nod in the direction of the work this side have done off the park with the strength and conditioning preparation work. Outside of the first five, maybe 10 minutes of this game, this was a top performance from a talented group of players.
They turn their attention now to a game with Meath in two week’s time knowing that a win will see them into the top tier.
TEAMS
Antrim: Eoghan Richmond; Malachi McGibbon, Cian Baudant, Niall Magee; Charlie McAuley, Sean McKay, Ben O’Kane; Calum McIlwaine, Ronan Fitzgerald; Aodhan McGarry, Joseph McLaughlin, Thomas McLaughlin; Jack McCloskey, Oran O’Connor, Fiontan Bradley
Subs: Cormac McKeown for R Fitzgerald (46); Callagh Mooney for J McLaughlin (52); Cian O’Connor for C Baudant (53)
Scorers: F Bradley 1-9 (5fs); J McCloskey 0-7; A McGarry 1-00; O Donnelly 0-2; C McKeown 0-2; N Magee 0-1; J McLaughlin 0-1; T McLaughlin 0-1
Westmeath: Padraig Casey; Conor Daly, Jack Murtagh, Darragh Smyth; Sean Hayes, Brian McCabe, Peter Murphy; Calum McKeogh, Cody Ward; Dylan Corrigan, Conor Leech, Conor Heffernan; Cormac McKeogh, Ivan Smyth, Nathan Cornally
Subs: Connaire Martin for B McCabe (44); Caolan Ready for C Leech (46); Adam Cassidy for C Heffernan (50); Sean Jackson for I Smyth (55)
Scorers: D Corrigan 0-8 (6fs); I Smyth 1-00; Cormac McKeogh 0-2; Calum McKeogh 0-2; C Ward 0-2; C Heffernan 0-1
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