Electric Ireland Leinster Minor Hurling Championship
Tier 2 Group 1
Antrim v Offaly
Date: Saturday 5 April
Venue: Dowdallshill, Co Louth
Throw in: 2pm
Brendan McTaggart speaks with Antrim minor hurling manager, Gabriel Crawford
Having collected the Ulster Hurling minor cup with impressive performances last month, Antrim minors travel to Dowdallshill, Co Louth for their opening match of the Leinster Minor Hurling Championship on Saturday afternoon.
The Saffrons begin their campaign in Tier 2 with the ‘carrot’ of matches in the Leinster Championship ‘proper’ to come, they face Offaly in their first of four frenetic weeks ahead. Before the calendar turns to May, Gabriel Crawford will guide his side to matches against Offaly, Wicklow, Westmeath and Meath in successive weekends. A challenging schedule but one Crawford is relishing.
In their last outing in the Ulster final, Antrim were hugely impressive. Leading 1-15 to 0-1 at half time, they were relentless in the second half as they ran out 4-27 to 2-6 winners by the final whistle. 11 different scorers and as Crawford told us, the group felt like they had something to prove to themselves: “Derry won it last year and for a lot of these boys, it was a second chance. Antrim used their u16 squad for the minors last year.
“You have your physicality from the likes of Derry and Down but I feel like it was our stickwork that got us through those games.
“It was tough. The schedule is so tight. We were only out on grass a week before that first game against Derry, there was no such thing as challenge matches and with plenty involved with school hurling, it’s had its challenges. We had seven lads who were involved with CPC (winners of the Paddy Buggy Cup) so to juggle that brought it’s own challenges but look, Joe Cassidy (CPC teacher/coach) was great to work with and at the end of the day, I have seven lads back with me here who are brimming with confidence after winning an All-Ireland.”
“The panel is made up of clubs from right across the county and I couldn’t be happier with the backroom team. Mattie Donnelly is in there and he’s not long stepped away from inter-county and big Natty (Donal McNaughton) who’s won multiple championships with Cushendall, Alan Rainey from Davitts, Ryan McAfee and Kevin McCann – a former junior All Ireland winner with Antrim are all great coaches in their own right. Chris Ashcroft is in there for S&C and has been unreal also.
“Every person has a role and a voice, they’re definitely good men to have around you.”
The early signs are that Crawford and his team are going in the right direction and while there is plenty of work that goes into that behind the scenes, you got the impression that things are beginning to fall into place when he told us: “Antrim hurling is in a really good place right now. You have Davy Fitzgerald at the top and then someone of the caliber of Mickey McShane in with the 20s and that’s an exciting place to be in for any player coming up through the age groups now.
“We’ve been saying to the lads that this is what they’ll expect to see next year when they go through to the 20s and hopefully in two or three years after that, seniors.
“We’re working a lot on the S&C and psychological side of things that will help these lads to push towards seniors and when you have the likes of Brendan Murphy in there overseeing the S&C side of things, it’s as close to a professional set up as you’re likely to see.
“With the steppingstones in place, it’s about ensuring the players are best placed and ready to make the transition. Crawford said that while they have put in the hard yards, something has fallen into their laps when he told us: “I would say the way we set up and how I want the team to hurl is very similar to that of the 20s. It wasn’t something that happened on purpose, it’s the hurling philosophy that I believe in and like my teams to set up with. I was watching the u20s train one night after us and I saw a lot of similarities to what we’re trying to do.
“That kind of thing will help these lads with their transition next year, instead of maybe starting back from square one with a different ethos.
“And look, Mickey and Davy are only ever a phone call away and they’re always willing to take that call.”
Offaly began their campaign last week with a three point win over Meath, the Antrim manager had the opportunity to watch Saturday’s opposition: “I went down to Birr and watched Offaly’s match against Meath last week in their first game. It will be a step up from Ulster but look, we have a great bunch of lads here and I believe they have what it takes to progress from this group.”
Crawford said that while they can train as hard as they can to get things right on the pitch, that psychological barrier still exists when playing games against teams like that of Offaly. He told us: “It still exists but it comes from not coming up against that opposition often enough. We’ve been drumming it into them that they’re only human, just like us. It doesn’t matter where they’re from and they are every bit as well prepared as what they will be.
“Offaly are in a similar situation to us, apart from that generational team (u20s) last year that make up the majority of their senior team now, they’ve been putting a lot of work into their underage teams. They’re no different to us and we’re trying to tell our boys that.”
Crawford confirmed that he has no injury concerns ahead of their trip: “There’s a couple of niggles there but everyone is fully fit. We’re pushing these lads to get the most out of them and getting them as far as they can. It’s important that they have the right mindset going out in these matches and competing.”
