Leinster Senior Hurling Championship – Round 1

Antrim 0-19 Wexford 2-24

Saturday 19 April

Brendan McTaggart reports from Chadwicks Wexford Park

The scoreline only told part of a frustrating story for Antrim as they fell to an 11 point defeat in their Leinster Championship opener on Saturday afternoon.  In a hugely competitive game, instead of leaving Wexford Park discussing the game, the Antrim fans found themsleves discussing the officiating of the game.

Saffrons manager Davy Fitzgerald was visibly fuming after the game and pulled no punches with his assessment.

Antrim did make a brilliant start to the game and held four point leads on two different occasions in the opening 10 minutes.  Five different scorers for their first six points, a penalty blazed over the bar from Gerard Walsh can be forgiven at such an early stage in the game and while it felt like Wexford were slow in clicking into gear, Fitzgerald stated that they were given a helping hand: “We started really well and the first 15 minutes of the second half we did really well.

When the home side did get to the pace of the game, it was Lee Chin who took the game by the scruff of the neck.  Like 12 months ago, Chin was imperious.  16 white flags, 12 from placed ball and to say he was a handful would be an understatement.  His aerial ability, cuteness in possession and accuracy from placed ball, Chin was bordering impossible to mark.  Nine points in the first half, five from frees and all in the space of a 20 minute period that saw the home side outscore Antrim 0-11 to 0-3.

Wexford were reduced to 14 men in the same period with Jack O’Connor’s game ending for an off the ball incident involving Joe Maskey.  Referee Lyons issuing a straight red after consultation with his umpires.

Antrim battled well and while they were made to work incredibly hard for any scores, the four point half time deficit was far from insurmountable.  Indeed, five minutes into the second half the difference was halved with James McNaughton and Walsh bringing Antrim to within touching distance.

Four points separated the sides midway through the half when the game swung dramatically in favour of the home side.  The first goal came through Kevin Foley when he rose highest among a crowd to fetch the sliotar.  As he landed, he spotted a gap and found himself through on Ryan Elliott’s goal.  His finish was brilliant and matched his catch second earlier.  As Antrim looked to come to terms with the sucker punch, they were reduced to 14 men with Conor Boyd receiving a second yellow card for a fairly innocuous challenge.  Another Chin free followed before Wexford’s second goal in the 60^th minute.  A strong run from Cian Molloy through the heart of the Saffron defence created the space for Cian Byrne and he gave Elliott no chance with a rasping drive to the top corner.  A further two Chin frees followed as Wexford made it 2-3 in just less than 10 minutes and the Saffrons numerical advantage was wiped out.  An uphill task was transformed into mission impossible but the Saffrons continued to fight and battle against the home side, something Fitzgerald was pleased with: “But look, I’m proud of the lads.  The first 20 minutes of the first half, unreal.  For 15 minutes of the second half, we were there. 

“I’m not disappointed in the display.  There was patches there where we were very good.

“It’s not me I feel bad for here, it’s those lads in there. 

An 11 point defeat, beaten but not broken.  This was a game where little should be taken from the final score.  Antrim did do plenty of things well, very well in fact and there is plenty of positives to take from this display.  The frustration of the 70 plus minutes will take some work to erase from the memory as they prepare for their next match.  The small matter a home game against Kilkenny in eight days time.

TEAMS

Antrim: Ryan Elliott; Stephen Rooney, Paddy Burke, Conor Boyd; Joe Maskey, Eoghan Campbell, Conall Bohill; Niall O’Connor, Gerard Walsh; Nigel Elliott, Keelan Molloy, Scott Walsh; Paul Boyle, James McNaughton, Seaan Elliott

Subs: Eoin O’Neill for N Elliott (concussion check: 32/35); Cormac McKeown for P Boyle (HT); Sean McKay for E Campbell (54); Joseph McLaughlin for S Elliott (56); Eoin O’Neill for J McNaughton (concussion check: 64/67); Eoin O’Neill for N Elliott (68); Ryan McGarry for S Rooney (70+3)

Scorers: J McNaughton 0-8 (4fs 2 ‘65s); G Walsh 0-4 (0-1 pen, 0-2 fs); K Molloy 0-3; N Elliott 0-1; S Elliott 0-1; J McLaughlin 0-1; C McKeown 0-1

Wexford: Mark Fanning; Eoin Ryan, Simon Donohue, Conchúir Ó Foghlú; Cian Molloy, Damien Reck, Charlie McGuckin; Conor Hearne, Richie Lawlor; Jack O’Connor, Rory O’Connor, Kevin Foley; Cathal Dunbar, Lee Chin, Cian Byrne

Subs: Seamus Casey for C Byrne (61); Jack Redmond for R O’Connor (66); Darragh Carley for S Donohue (66); Niall Murphy for R Lawlor (69); Darren Codd for K Foley (70+2)

Scorers: L Chin 0-16 (12fs); C Hearne 0-3; R O’Connor 0-3; C Byrne 1-00; K Foley 1-00; C Dunbar 0-1; S Casey 0-1

Referee: Colm Lyons (Cork)

TO SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THE GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

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Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship – Round 1

Antrim v Wexford

Venue: Chadwicks Wexford Park

Date: Saturday 19 April – Throw in: 2pm

Referee: Colm Lyons (Cork)

Brendan McTaggart looks ahead to Antrim’s Leinster championship opener as Antrim travel to Wexford.

Almost six weeks have passed since the end of a National Hurling league that saw Antrim maintain their Division One status for the 2026 season.  Wins against Westmeath and Laois came either side of a draw away to Carlow in a game that saw the Saffrons come back from the brink.

Since then, the Saffrons attention have been firmly set upon the Leinster Championship.  It’s a tough schedule that will see them play five matches in as many weeks with trips to Galway and Offaly preceding home games against Kilkenny and Dublin.  Before all that however, Antrim have a trip to the ‘Sunny South East’ and a match against Wexford.

Thought will immediately go back to that historical meeting 12 months ago against the Slaneysiders where Antrim recorded a first championship win against Wexford.  That match finishing 2-22 to 2-20.  This is one that certainly whet’s the appetite – an early Easter feast, if you will.

The Antrim squad have recently been on a training camp to Portugal and when we spoke with Davy Fitzgerald, he lauded his squad for their efforts not only on the training pitch but to also put something like this together: “Yeah we had four days in Portugal which was the equivalent of eight sessions or two weeks in that space of time.

“It’s hugely beneficial to not only get that training done and games but to get away from any outside noise – both good and bad.

“You’re in a different environment and a different country but it’s our space and our area.  This is already a close group of lads but being in that environment and this setting, it builds bonds or reinforces them.

“I’m immensely proud of the lads.  They’ve put in a serious amount of work to ensure the likes of that would happen.  I know they’ve done it for the last number of years, these lads seen that the County Board have been brilliant for the lads and wanted to do this themselves.”

After a league campaign that saw the Saffrons improve as the season progressed, Fitzgerald wasn’t looking to paper over any cracks.  Consistency is still the buzz word within the camp and the Clare native said they are working relentlessly to bring that to this squad: “We beat teams (in the league) that we’d have been expected to beat and drew against Carlow in a game that I thought we were the better side.  There’s an inconsistency there and by that I mean being competitive, that’s something that we’re trying to sort out.

“I’ve been working on in-house games mostly.  Working on ways to improve the areas we’ve identified that need improving.

“The lads are open to the ideas we’re bringing.  I’m a firm believer in dealing with these things head on and we’ve had discussions as a group to try and address this.  Are we there yet?  No, I don’t think so but I definitely believe we’re going in the right direction.

“We’re in a position to do things that can change that and we’re trying.  The lads are doing incredible work and working really hard.  I’ve massive respect for these lads for the efforts they are putting in to turn this around.”

Saturday is a huge game and with the bookies making Antrim as big as 10/1 and the Handicap betting sitting at -9 for Evs, wouldn’t you just love for another massive moment for this squad and team against the ‘Yella Bellies’ but as Fitzgerald said, while some may look at that as a negative, he’s looking to turn that into a positive and instill a fire within his players: “We’re odds on to be relegated in Leinster or so I’ve been told by friends who have been to the bookies.  I’ve been telling the lads that they have to go out and tare into these teams and see where we are.”

After that game in Corrigan last year, Wexford recovered to defeat Galway, Carlow and ran Kilkenny to a point in the last game, adding to their draw against Dublin on the opening day.  They finished third and advanced to the preliminary quarter finals on a better head to head against Galway and just one point ahead of Antrim.

In the 2025 league, Wexford played in Division 1A and while they were relegated to 1B, they recorded victories against Clare and Limerick.  It shows that the Slaneysiders are a side who have the capabilities to go deep in the championship though many would see them as outsiders.

They are, off course, a side that Davy Fitzgerald will know very well.  He was in charge of the county’s senior team from 2016 to 2021 in a tenure that saw him win the county’s first Leinster championship for 15 years (2019) before losing narrowly to eventual All-Ireland winners Tipperary in the semi-final that year.  Fitzy said that he has fond memories of his time in charge in the south-east: “I have a huge amount of respect for Wexford.  I had five great years there and they are a great, passionate people.  From what I’ve been told, they are hurt from getting beat by Antrim last year and looking to atone for that on Saturday, want to teach us a lesson.

“It’s important to relish a challenge like this and I’ve told the lads that.” 

Leinster Under 20 Hurling Championship – Tier 2

Antrim 3-23 Meath 2-10

Antrim overcome a shaky start to beat Meath convincingly in Tuesday evening’s Leinster Under 20 Hurling Championship final round-robin game at St Brigid’s Park, Dundalk. The Saffrons had three points on the board in the opening minute but were rocked back on their heels when Meath hit back with two quick goals. However Antrim soon settled into their stride and with the diagonal breeze in their favour they got on top and went on to lead by 1-13 to 2-02 at half time. When the Royal county side turned to play with the wind in their favour they started with three quick points to cut their deficit to five after six minutes. There were a few anxious looks among the Antrim followers for a minute or two but they need not have worried as the Ulster champions got going again with a Orann Donnelly point, and when Jack McCloskey took a clever pass from Fiontan Bradley to fire home his team’s second goal the pendulum swung back in the Saffrons’ favour and they pushed on for a win that takes them through to a Tier 1 meeting with Dublin next Wednesday evening.

Joseph McLaughlin got Antrim off to a lightening start inside 15 seconds when he pointed from play and when McLaughlin grabbed his second and Calum McIlwaine got a third the signs were promising for the Saffron fans. However in their first attack Meath corner forward Darren Higgins cut through the Antrim defence to fire in a sensational goal. Sean McKay came back with a point for Antrim but right away Higgins repeated his early heroics with goal number two, a carbon copy of the first.

It looked like Antrim had a real fight on their hands, but with corner forward Fiontan Bradley leading the line up front they drew level by the 15th minute, Bradley accounting for two of the points and Jack McCloskey the other. Meath went back ahead when midfielder George Douglas sent over a sensational point from a sideline cut, but Antrim upped the pace and dominated the rest of the opening period, Bradley adding five points while Aodhan McGarry and Liam Glackin got the other two to move 0-13 to 2-02 ahead going into first half injury time. They appeared to be in a strong position but things got even better when Bradley went for goal from a twenty metre free and left the Meath net rattling after a well struck shot.

The half time debate among the Antrim fans was would their 8 point advantage be enough and when Meath made a great start to the new half with quick points from Gallagher, Ennis and Leavy that half time confidence started to waver a little. The Saffrons needed a score to settle the nerves and Orann Donnelly provided it, the big full forward racing out to the wing to win a ball before sending it between the Meath posts. Two minutes later came the score that really started the victory march when great work by Bradley put Jack McCloskey clear and the Loughgiel man fired home.

Donnelly hit another beauty as the Antrim boys began to show what they were capable off and when Thomas McLaughlin set up his brother Joseph for his team’s third goal there was no way back for the Meath men. Bradley and Sean McKay added points before Douglas broke the sequence with a top class score at the other end. Goalkeeper Eoin Richmond was called upon to make a fine save to deny Meath substitute Luke O’Halloran but by this stage the size of the winning margin was the only thing to be decided, and they finished with a flourish with points from Luke McFerran, Jack McCloskey and Orrin O’Connor to wrap it all up.

Antrim’s starting team was –

Eoghan Richmond, Mal McGibbon, Liam Glackin, Dara Patterson, Ben McGarry, Sean McKay, Ben O’Kane, Joe McLoughlin, Callum McIlwaine, Aodhan McGarry, Cormac McKeown, Thomas McLoughlin, Fiontain Bradley, Orann Donnelly, Jack McCloskey

TO SEE A FULL RANGE OF PHOTOS FROM THE GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

https://myalbum.com/album/ZoY44gg287bGhf/?invite=6ec9c27a-aa6f-4838-9f8f-005c40816808

Leinster Minor Hurling Championship – Tier 2

Pics by Bert Trowlen

A strong finish by Offaly ended Antrim’s chances in their opening game in the Leinster Minor Hurling Championship, Tier 2, at Dundalk on Satruday as the Faithful County boys turned on the style to make it two games out of two in their group.

When left half forward James McDonald grabbed the Safron’s second goal 11 minutes into the second half things looked promising for the Antrim side. However Offaly, with the strong breeze at their backs, seemed to find another gear and driven on by team captain Odhran Fletcher they hit 2 goals and 9 point in the final 18 minutes to just a single point in reply to win by 12.

Antrim got off to a bad start when right half forward Conor Thornton goaled in the opening minute and team captain Fletcher added a point thirty seconds late. Thing looked bleak for the Ulster champions but with the elements in their favour they hit back immediately and three point from Sean Smith, James McDonald and Jay McAlonan close the gap to a single point after four minutes. Things really took off when corner forward Cadhan Crawford fired home a fantastic goal soon afterwards and when the excellent James McDonnell added two quick points they were four points clear in the eighth minute. (1-05 to 1-01)

They suffered a setback when Offaly corner forward Ruairi Woods grabbed his team’s second goal but the Saffrons still held the upper hand and were 1-08 to 2-03 ahead when things began to turn. They suffered a bad blow when goal scorer Cadhan Crawford was forced to retire injured on 24 minutes and things got worse two minutes later when a sideline cut by Fletcher deceived the Antrim keeper and ended up in the back of the net.

Two points down at half time (3-05 to 1-09) Antrim started the second half well and Sean Smyth pulled a point back. They had a couple of good goal chances and were unfortunate not to get frees on a couple of occasions, but when Sean Smyth was brought down close to goal on eleven minutes James McDonnell fired the resultant penalty to the net to put them back in front. Offaly came back with two point to regain the lead but Antrim were still dangerous and when Christy Leach cut through on goal he was taken out by the Offaly goalkeeper James Carroll, but despite protests from the Antrim sideline the match referee played on.

From that stage on Offaly took control and added five more unanswered points. On 48 minutes the Faithful county were awarded a penalty which also saw Antrim corner back Aaron Quinn receive a black card, which left the Antrim fans enraged wondering why the same rule hadn’t applied at the other end earlier. Fletcher fired home Offaly’s fourth goal from the penalty and Antrim had a mountain to climb, as Offaly pushed on, adding goal number five through Ruairi Woods five minutes later.

A disappointing ending for Gabriel Crawford and his team but they can take heart from their play for good parts of the game. They are out again over the next two weekends against Meath and Wicklow so there is still something left to play for.  

TO SEE MORE OF BERT’S PICS FROM THIS GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

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