Leinster Minor Hurling Championship – Tier 2
Venue: Trim, County Meath
Final Score: Antrim 10-20 | Meath 1-10
Despite an evenly contested opening quarter where the home side showed real promise, the signs grew ominous for Meath as Antrim pulled away to a 2-09 to 0-07 lead at halftime against a strong wind. What followed in the second half was a complete demolition job, with the Saffrons dominating from start to finish, adding an incredible eight more goals to register a facile 10-20 to 1-10 victory.
Antrim laid down an immediate marker, finding the back of the net in the very first minute through their formidable full forward, Connlaodh McNaughton. Jay Gault quickly followed up with a point just three minutes later. Meath, to their credit, did not fold. By the seventh minute, full forward Kian McKeigue had slotted two points over the bar, and corner forward Ben Healy added a third from a free. Midfielder Darragh Wright chimed in with a score in the tenth minute, and Healy leveled the proceedings with another well-struck free on twelve minutes.
However, Antrim shifted gears to regain control. Gault put them back in front on the fourteen-minute mark. Though McKeigue replied with his third point of the day for Meath, Antrim’s superior link-up play began to show. A beautifully worked move initiated by midfielder Logan McConville allowed Matthew Murray to score, and despite another point from Meath’s McKeigue, Antrim closed the half with authority. Oisín McLaren added a free, and while Healy managed one final point for Meath on twenty-three minutes, the closing stages of the half belonged entirely to the visitors. McLaren scored again from open play, Gault added a point and narrowly missed a goal, and both Gault and McLaren tagged on frees. McNaughton capped off the half with a point from play, leaving the halftime score at Antrim 2-09, Meath 0-07. Antrim had built a commanding lead, notably while playing into a stiff breeze.
With the wind at their backs for the second period, Antrim was relentless. Within the first minute of the restart, Lewis Rafferty raised a green flag, followed swiftly by a point from Murray. Meath’s Kian McKeigue offered brief resistance with a point in the third minute, but it did little to stem the tide. McNaughton knocked over a point before the floodgates truly opened: McNaughton and Éanna McGuckian rattled the net with two rapid-fire goals. Even a red card for Antrim wing-back Ollie McClements in the thirty-eighth minute, following a second yellow, couldn’t derail their momentum. Undeterred, McNaughton shortly fired home yet another goal.
The scoreboard kept ticking with points from James McGarry and a superb score from play by Murray. Oisín McLaren added a massive 65-meter free, and substitute Conor McCann made an immediate impact by grabbing a goal in the forty-eighth minute. After McLaren converted another long-range free, Meath substitute Rob Kelly managed a point in reply. Antrim’s bench continued to torture the Meath defense. Substitute Conall Dempsey announced his arrival with two goals in the space of two minutes—one pouncing on a goalkeeper fumble and the other a thunderous finish from open play.
In the closing stages, Conor McCann put on a clinic, scoring a point at the fifty-four-minute mark following a brilliant solo run, and then repeating the feat a minute later with a run that started inside his own half. Nathan McKenna and Logan McConville added to the tally, capping excellent individual performances. At the sixty-minute mark, substitute Cathair McCaughan registered Antrim’s tenth goal of the afternoon, with Dempsey adding a final point. In the fourth minute of injury time, Meath’s Ben Healy managed a late consolation goal, bringing a punishing afternoon for the home side to a close at 10-20 to 1-10.
Antrim’s victory was built on dominance across the pitch, with several players putting in top-class shifts. Connlaodh McNaughton was the focal point of the attack, proving unplayable at full forward as he netted multiple goals and terrorized the Meath full-back line. Jay Gault was superb at right half-forward, acting as a constant creative and scoring threat. Further back, Nathan McKenna, Eunan Curry, and Logan McConville excelled in defense and midfield, establishing the platform for Antrim’s relentless attacks. Finally, the Antrim substitutes made a massive impact, highlighting their squad depth. Conor McCann was phenomenal upon his introduction, scoring a goal and two points, while Conall Dempsey was lethal in front of goal, bagging two quick-fire majors.
