Leinster Senior Hurling Championship – Round Robin 3
Antrim 0-19 Dublin 3-25
Antrim hurlers were well off the pace when losing to Dublin in Saturday’s Leinster Senior Hurling Championship round 3 game at Corrigan Park, Belfast. There were spells in their previous game against Kilkenny when it appeared the Saffrons were making some progress but this time out they were way off the pace as Dublin dominated from start to finish t win by fifteen points in the end, and it has to be said they were worth every one of the them.
Apart from a brief spell just after half time when the home side hit full forward James McNaghton hit three points in a row, they never really challenged, and to make things even worse their talisman McNaughton received a straight red card which will definitely rule him out of their meeting with Galway in Salthill next weekend, but may even worse could also see him sidelined for the last game of the campaign against Offaly in Tullamore, a game that most likely will determine the destiny of those two sides.
With Keelan Molloy and Conor Johnston missing from the starting line-up Antrim struggled to get anything going, while Dublin sharp from start to finish, their ball winning ability and first touch a world away from the home side. Antrim centre back Conor Boyd gave Antrim an early lead but it was short lived and after Chris Crummey drew the visitors level Sean Currie and John Heatherton put the Dubs two clear inside five minutes.
The gap widened as the game advanced with James McNaughton’s free taking keeping Antrim in touch, but the Dubs had the upper hand and some great finishing by Currie and Cian O’Sullivan pulled them well clear. McNaughton added two more from frees and Ryan McCambridge grabbed a great score from play but they struggled to sustain their brief spells on top. Antrim’s uphill task got a lot steeper when Dublin got through for goals through Cian O’Sullivan and their excellent corner-forward Ronan Hayes and by half time they were 2-14 to 0-7 to the good.
With the fresh breeze at their backs in the second half Antrim made a promising start when McNaughton grabbed the first three points to cut the gap back to ten. However the boys in blue were soon back in full control as Hayes and O’Sullivan sent over points from play. Antrim battled hard but it just wasn’t working for them and each time they managed a score their opponents came back two of their own. A brilliantly taken goal by substitute Fergal Whitely really sealed the deal for visitors.
Thing couldn’t get any worse, or so we thought, but McNaughton’s red card dismissal proved us all wrong at the Dubs maintained the 100% record to all but seal their place in the top three.
Scorers – Dublin: S Currie 0-12 (8f, 2 65s); C O’Sullivan 1-3; F Whitely 1-1; R Hayes 1-0; C Crummey 0-3; B Hayes, J Hetherton, C Burke, P Doyle, C McHugh, C Currie 0-1 each. Antrim: J McNaughton 0-10 (8f, 1 65); R McCambridge, J McLaughlin 0-2 (1f) each; C Boyd, C McKeown, E Campbell, N Elliott, G Walsh (1f) 0-1 each.
Dublin: E Gibbons 7; J Bellew 7, P Smyth 7, C McHugh 8; P Doyle 8, C Crummey 8, A Dunphy 7; C Burke 7, C Donohue 7; B Hayes 7, C O’Sullivan 8, D Power 7; S Currie 9, J Hetherton 6, R Hayes 7. Subs: P Dunleavy 7 for A Dunphy (26), D Burke 6 for J Hetherton (49), C Currie 7 for C Burke (53), F Whitely 7 for R Hayes (59), J Madden 6 for C Crummey (66).
Antrim: R Elliott 7; S Rooney 7, N O’Connor 7, P Burke 7; J Maskey 6, C Boyd 6, C Bohill 5; E Campbell 5, G Walsh 6; J McLaughlin 5, R McCambridge 6, S Walsh 5; E O’Neill 5, J McNaughton 7, N Elliott 5. Subs: S McKay 5 for S Walsh (HT), C McKeown 6 for E O’Neill (51).
Ref: L Gordon (Galway)
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