Christy Ring Cup final replay: Antrim v Meath (today, Croke Park, 5pm)
AFTER 22 minutes of the Christy Ring Cup final on June 4, Antrim were nine in front and looking good for a second title and, more importantly, promotion to the Liam MacCarthy.
Meath had other ideas and although initially all at sea in Croke Park and being outclassed by the Saffrons, they stuck tenaciously to their task.
When the referee blew the final whistle, the Royals were obviously elated, believing that their indefatigable spirit and no little quality hurling had upset the odds.
But they didn’t score more than Antrim. A refereeing error had given them one more point than they earned ans the match had in fact finished level. So, both counties are back in Croke Park this evening.
Antrim captain Neal McAuley admits it has been an odd enough old three weeks.
“It’s another bite at the cherry and it’s a big challenge,” said the Ballycastle centre-back.
“It’s a mixture of feelings really. The players are definitely wanting promotion to the Liam MacCarthy but the way it has been dragged out, I’m sure both sets of players are kind of not too sure what way to approach the game and what the mindset is.
“We took a few days off and obviously reflected on how poorly we did perform in the second half against Meath.”
Antrim’s inability to put together a consistent 70 minute performance ultimately cost them last time out.
McAuley is all too aware of the problem, but is hopeful that three weeks’ training and a resounding win against Derry in the Ulster Championship will have helped address the problem and sharpened the fitness of the players.
“The best thing players can do is just go out on the pitch and perform and that is all we have to worry about – let everybody else worry about all the other stuff,” he said.
“It’s plain to see we play for maybe 10 to 15 minutes and then we just switch off.
“We struggle to get back into the game once the other team would come close to our score.
“We would struggle to gain our momentum back again and once a team has momentum – it is difficult to take it off them.”
McAuley was asked whether Antrim’s tradition of playing at a higher level of hurling than Meath was a problem, and whether this could have led to a touch of disrespect, as has been suggested in some quarters.
Mention of such feelings prompted an admission that any such complacency would not have been overt and drew a glowing tribute from McAuley for this evening’s opponents, revealing, on the contrary, a healthy respect for the Meath men.
“Possibly sub-consciously but you have to be professional about it and treat every individual as if they’re as good if not better than you,” said McAuley.
“Because they have earned the right to be there in the final, and they almost won the game the last day, so they have earned it and they are every bit as good as us at the minute.
“Most of the teams now at this level are all very good teams.
“Traditionally Meath would have been more of a football county and their hurlers would have been a poorer relation – people don’t give them the respect they deserve.
“So we were under no illusions about how good they were going to be. Their fitness was obviously a great asset for them as well.”
TEAMS
Antrim: E Gillan; S McCrory, T McCloskey, P Burke; O McFadden, N McAuley, F Donnelly; E Campbell, N McKenna; N Elliott, E McCloskey, S McAfee; C Johnston, B McCarry, C Clarke.
Meath: S McGann; S Geraghty, D Donogue, R Sherlock; S Brennan, D Healy, K Keoghan; S Heavey, S Morris; J Toher, J Keena, A Gannon; G McGowan, N Heffernan, S Clynch
