RYAN McCambridge is adopting an “impossible is nothing” attitude ahead of today’s daunting task against Munster champions Waterford in Semple Stadium.
The bookies may rate Antrim as no-hopers heading into today’s Bord Gáis All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship semi-final, with heavy favourites Waterford priced at an unbackable 1/500.
But the Saffrons’ utility man McCambridge is hopeful that his side can pull off a shock result.
That is not to say the Cushendall club man is blind to the massive task in front of him.
Waterford’s Under 21 panel is laced with senior talent that twice pushed All-Ireland senior champions Kilkenny to the wire.
So McCambridge knows the size of the task at hand in Thurles, even if the Déise may be wounded from their heart-breaking two-point senior loss to the Cats last weekend.
“Obviously they are going to be hurt from last Saturday, but a good team will not let that affect them,” said McCambridge.
“We wouldn’t mind if it did, but if their heads are right they will still be very hard to play against.
“Of course it is going to be hard to mark against the likes of Austin Gleeson, Stephen Bennett and Shane Bennett, but we just need to stay as tight as we can and try cancel them out,” continued the defender-cum-forward, who has been blown away by Gleeson’s impressive season.
“The man is just phenomenal, he’s not human,” laughed McCambridge. “He is in contention for Hurler of the Year, it’s outrageous.”
McCambridge feels that the under-21 grade provides an ideal platform for Antrim hurling to rebuild after a disappointing back-to-back seasons at senior level and he agrees there is a real drive among Ollie Bellew’s young panel.
“Definitely, especially the younger players coming up now, we have a weight on our shoulders. but hopefully we can rectify it in the years to come and do what we can to get Antrim hurling to where we think it should be,” said McCambridge.
“You have to look at what Waterford, Dublin and Galway have been doing and see what we can relate to and improve ourselves.
“I think we have the hurling in ourselves and if we just worry about what we can do on the day we can put up a good result,” added McCambridge, who claimed that today’s match is an opportunity to make up for the county’s senior sorrow after they failed to regain a spot in Leinster.
“I just put it out of my head as much as I can,” said McCambridge on their Christy Ring Cup final loss to Meath, which infamously had to be replayed.
“I just focus on the here and now when it comes to trying to hurl. It’s in the past, it’s over and done with and we have to look forward to the next season with seniors and minors alike and worry about the Under-21 at the minute.”
Central to McCambridge’s belief that an upset could be on the cards in Thurles is the recent memory of Antrim’s surprise under-21 win over Wexford in 2013.
“The last two years we were written off before we came in, but you see three years ago there was a big shock to the whole hurling community so you never know the same could happen again,” said McCambridge.
“It was a massive thing for Antrim hurling to get to an All-Ireland Under-21 final and to beat that Wexford team was just phenomenal.
“Definitely we would look back on it for inspiration to see how it was done. They just did the simple things, hurled hard and did what they had to to get over the line.”
The Cushendall man has experienced an All-Ireland semi-final, albeit at club level when Rúairí Óg upset Galway’s Sarsfields before losing to Limerick’s Na Piarsaigh in the decider.
And McCambridge hit back at the suggestion that the intense rivalry of the Antrim club scene may be a factor in the county senior team’s lack of success.
“It gives me confidence to know what to expect going into an All-Ireland semi-final having been in one with my clubs,” he said. “I think there are eight Cushendall players on the panel. So a lot of us know what it takes.
“You wouldn’t come to the county and have a feud with another player just because of what club he plays for. Our club hurling is definitely up there with the best in Ireland.
“I’ve always thought it’s a confidence thing we have with our county. I think southern counties just have so much confidence in knowing they can do this.
“Antrim as a county, we have incredibly good hurlers, we just don’t have the confidence when it comes down to playing the bigger teams.
“[The solution is] getting more and more competitive matches against the better teams and building the confidence up.”
