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Antrim valiant in defeat

Thursday, 29 July 2010

Antrim’s Shane McNaughton’s feet leave the ground under pressure from Cork’s Eoin Cadogan while Saffron centre-half forward Neil McManus attempts to retain possession during the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship quarter-final clash between the two s

Antrim...............................................0-19
Cork...................................................1-25
There was a sense of the inevitable about Antrim's All-Ireland quarter final clash with Cork at Croke Park on Sunday afternoon, that, unfortunately for them, came true. In a game where they presented some wonderful skills and creative passages of hurling they were beaten in the end by nine points.
From Dinny Cahill's pre-match comments that "Cork were a great side with lots of big names", so different to those ill-fated remarks in 2004 when they last met in the championship, to the silence of the Antrim support at headquarters suggested that everyone knew the outcome.
The players may have believed different and, at times, their play suggested just that. Unfortunately they were unable to sustain the pressure from a side which honestly looked to be performing in a much lower gear.
The Saffrons, after four early Cork points, were never able to get back on level terms, let alone go ahead, and the Rebels knew that Kilkenny, as had been suggested earlier in the week, were their main concern at the semi-final stage.
Indeed Sean Og O'hAilpin , who was unable to play because of injury, had the audacity to suggest that he was unaware that Antrim were in the quarter-finals of the championship.
Despite what went before, Sunday was all about what happened on the day. Antrim can take a great deal of pride from their performance although it was clear that they were never going to get close. Certainly they had their moments, plenty of them , but were still making silly mistakes which Cork punished big time.
They had in Liam Watson, as one commentator put it, "all that was good in Antrim hurling and all that was nasty". The Loughgiel man certainly turned in a magnificent performance, as good as any on the Cork side, and his six excellent points testified to that. However, he was lucky to be still on the Croke Park surface after an altercation with Eoin Cadogan in the second minute of the game and a childish prank a few minutes later, when he shouldered an opponent and then dropped to the floor. The red mist finally descended five minutes from the end when he got involved with John Gardner, pulling off his helmet and leaving the referee no option but show a second yellow and a red.
Neil McManus was another who turned in an unerring performance. The Cushendall man was entrusted to the free-taking role and what a superb job he did. Each and every one was a pressure situation, knowing that his side had to keep in touch, and he certainly wasn't found wanting. He scored nine, his only slip coming late in the game.
The Antrim defence too stood their ground and the fully back line in particular did a great job. Corner backs, Sean Delargy and Kieran McGourty couldn't have done more while Cormac Donnelly, still in the under 21 ranks, was a delight to watch. Loughgiel's Chris O'Connell between the posts also had an error free game.
The loss of captain Paul Shiels to injury after 26 minutes, was a devastating blow but both Johnny Campbell and Ciaran Herron appeared to put in even more effort after his withdrawal.
Karl Stewart, as usual, went through an enormous amount of work with Shane McNaughton close on his heels.
Liam Watson was, by far the most accomplished Antrim forward with Neil McManus, Simon McCrory and Karl McKeegan also turning in top performances.
Cork however were in a different class although Antrim are gradually getting to that top grade. One got the feeling that they were doing just enough to keep ahead and, had another couple of gears been called for, they soon would have been found.
The Saffrons were very much in this game until the dying minutes of the first half. Early on they pulled back a four point deficit to just one and, until the 34th minute when McManus converted his fifth free to trail by just three, they were still very much in with a shout. A Nial McCarthy forehand smash earned the only goal of the game and two more Ben O'Connor points made it 1-16 to 0-11 at the break and there was no way back for the Ulster champions.
While they did battle to the bitter end, scoring eight points in the process, they never had a chance. What they did manage to achieve was to cut that 22 point drubbing of six years ago by 13 points and come close to the their 1986 semi-final defeat which was just five.
The most obvious thing now is to get back into Division One hurling where they will prove they can match it with the best.

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