National Hurling League – Division 1B

Antrim v Carlow

Date: Sunday 22 February

Venue: Corrigan Park, Belfast

Throw in: 1pm

Brendan McTaggart previews Antrim’s upcoming hurling league game with Carlow

Antrim’s league goes into its fourth match of the campaign on Sunday with Carlow making their way to Corrigan Park and while it’s not quite ‘win or bust’, it’s certainly a case of the Saffrons needing a win to keep their fate in their own hands.

The journey to date has been less than remarkable, other than a rainy Saturday night in Wexford town where Davy Fitzgerald’s charges where sank by some questionable decisions at the end.  Defeats have followed to Clare and Kildare in the weeks since, that performance a couple of weeks ago in St Conleth’s Park certainly leaving a serious sense of dread coming into the second half of the league.

Getting nothing from the Clare game can be forgiven.  They are an outfit who have serious aspirations for Liam McCarthy honours never mind league and the second half performance that day should have given anyone a sense of optimism for the Kildare game.  A second half blitz that saw the Lilywhites go from two points ahead at half time to 12 inside 10 minutes if the restart.

Antrim never looked like they would make serious inroads into that lead as Kildare showed what a bit of momentum can do for a side in this game.  For how poor the Saffrons were that 70 minutes, credit should be given to a brilliant Kildare performance.  They were thoroughly deserving of that win and that gives them a serious platform to maintain their Division 1B status for the 2027 season.

It’s a platform that Antrim would do anything to find themselves.  With Carlow, Dublin and Down in the three remaining fixtures, three wins may not even be enough.  Two will certainly require the Saffron’s needing favours elsewhere.  Is this contest all or nothing?  Win or bust?  Die dog or…. As far as the league campaign goes, it’s a massive game.  A return to Corrigan Park and the scene of some helter skelter encounters with the Barrowsiders throughout the years. 

Antrim make a few changes to the 15 with Cormac McFadden returning to between the sticks while Eoin McFerran is restored to the defence having missed out on a starting place against Kildare.  Keelan Molloy makes a long awaited return to the starting 15 and will line out in midfield with Ryan McCambridge – Domhnall Nugent, Ruairi McCormick and Eoin O’Neill the players to miss out with Nugent and ‘Sammy’ taking their place on the bench.

It’s a starting 15 and an attacking six that looks good on paper.  Pace in abundance and can give any team on the island plenty to think about.  They’ll need to fire if the Saffrons are to get anything from a Carlow side who have performed well so far. 

They faded going down the stretch against Wexford with the yella bellies outscoring them 1-10 to 0-2 in the last 15 minutes.  It took Lee Chin coming off the bench to get Wexford out of jail on that occasion a fortnight ago.

Carlow, who are now managed by Pat Bennett, Davy’s assistant with Antrim last season, have names in their side that we have heard plenty of in the recent past with Marty Kavanagh still his accurate best on frees while Chris and Jon Nolan will need some looking after.

When we travelled to Carlow 12 months ago, it was a tale of two halves.  A brilliant free from Gerard Walsh deep in injury time gave the Saffrons a share of the spoils but it was a game that they could well have won having played superbly in the second half.

A week of a break since that Kildare game is hopefully a good thing.  Sometimes you want to get out and at it as soon as possible to get a poor performance out of your system but and hopefully Carlow coming to Belfast at a bad time for them.  Antrim need to put in a massive performance to salvage their league season, we know they’re capable off it, there is no better time to produce the goods than Corrigan Park against Carlow.

National Hurling League – Division 1B

Kildare 3-20 Antrim 0-20 at Newbridge

Kildare delivered a clinical performance at Newbridge to leave Antrim still searching for their first win of the National Hurling League Division 1B campaign. Despite traveling south with a sense of optimism that this fixture could provide a turning point for their season, the Saffrons were ultimately outclassed by a home side that seized control during a devastating third-quarter blitz.

The opening half was a tightly contested affair, defined by scoring bursts from both sides. Antrim’s Seaan Elliott and Ryan McCambridge were influential early on, keeping the scoreboard ticking over from both placed balls and open play. However, Kildare showed superior efficiency, particularly through Jack Sheridan (13) and Muiris Curtin (14). While Antrim managed to claw back a deficit with the final three points of the half to trail by just three, Kildare’s ability to find scores from across the pitch—including contributions from defenders like Paul Dolan (5) and Daire Guerin (7)—sent a warning sign of the depth of their threat.

The game was effectively decided in a whirlwind eight-minute spell following the restart. Kildare emerged with renewed intensity, and Muiris Curtin became the architect of Antrim’s downfall. Following the opening goal from James Dolan, full-forward Curtin bagged two spectacular goals, in just over a minute, including a low-driven shot to the corner in the 48th minute that left the visitors reeling. This scoring spree, coupled with accurate frees from Sheridan, saw the Lilywhites pull 14 points clear. The Antrim defence, despite the efforts of Paddy Burke and Niall O’Connor, simply could not contain the wave of Kildare attacks during this decisive period.

To their credit, Antrim dominated the final quarter as they sought to bridge the massive gap. Seaan Elliott continued his prolific form, finishing the day as his side’s primary marksman with scores from frees, 65s, and open play. Late points from Eoin O’Neill and long-range efforts from Elliott showed the Saffrons’ spirit, but the damage had already been done. Kildare’s substitutes, including Conn Kehoe, added late points to ensure there was no way back. As the final whistle blew, Kildare celebrated a comprehensive victory, while Antrim were left to reflect on a difficult afternoon where a breeze at their backs was no match for Kildare’s clinical goal-scoring power.

When they lost out to Wexford and Clare in the opening game the feeling was that things would turn around when they faced what would be classed the lesser teams in the division. They were desperately unlucky against Wexford and should have had two points on the board from that game, but points are going to be hard to come by in their next outings against Carlow and Dublin and survival in Division 1B is going to be hard to achieve.

Kildare Paddy McKenna, Liam O’Reilly, Rian Boran, Dan O’Meara, Paul Dolan, Cian Boran, Daire Guerin, Simon Leacy, Conan Boran, Cathal McCabe, Cathal Dowling, Jack Travers, Jack Sheridan, Muiris Curtin, and Gerry Keegan.

Antrim D. Nugent, N. O’Connor, P. Burke, R. McCormick, S. Rooney, J. Maskey, G. Walsh, R. McCambridge, E. O’Neill, R. Donaghy, S. Elliott, S. Duffin, C. Johnston, J. McNaughton, and C. Cunning.

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

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