Hurling & Camogie

Antrim bounce back to thrash Meath in five-star fashion

5/5/2018 Antrims nigel elliott   comes under pressure from Meaths eamon o donnchadha   in Saturdays Joe Mc Donagh Cup game in Navan Pic Seamus Loughran.
5/5/2018 Antrims nigel elliott comes under pressure from Meaths eamon o donnchadha in Saturdays Joe Mc Donagh Cup game in Navan Pic Seamus Loughran. 5/5/2018 Antrims nigel elliott comes under pressure from Meaths eamon o donnchadha in Saturdays Joe Mc Donagh Cup game in Navan Pic Seamus Loughran.

THAT this game was set for an amazing, astonishing turnaround was evident from the very start.

Antrim’s Nigel Elliott almost turned himself into a quiz question answer by shooting in the wrong direction after winning the throw-in and heading towards his own goal, but his erroneous effort went wide.

That still allowed Meath to take the lead from the subsequent 65 and they added two goals inside the opening nine minutes, from Gavin McGowan and Alan Douglas, for a flying start.

However, Elliott got himself going the right way, as did the rest of his team, and they transformed a seven-point deficit into a 16-point lead, effecting that 23-point swing long before the end.

Fittingly, Dunloy man Elliott provided the game’s turning point, his first goal after 20 minutes the catalyst in changing potential defeat into comfortable victory.

That sparked a Saffrons’ scoring spree of 4-11 to just 0-2 in reply from Meath between the 21st and 48th minutes of the match, as they utterly turned this game on its head.

Elliott played a huge part, ending up as the Saffrons’ top scorer with 3-2, all from play, while centre half-forward Conor Johnston notched 2-4, including the injury-time penalty that completed this rout.

Antrim manager Neal Peden was delighted Elliott did so well after that strange start, saying “absolutely, he did redeem himself”.

Although he claimed “it could have happened to anybody”, Peden acknowledged Elliott would have put “himself into the history books there if he slotted that one over.

“But he came back, had a tremendous game. I think the whole team showed great character after the way we went behind”.

Indeed for a time it looked like it was all going the wrong way for the Saffrons. After going score for score very early on, Antrim were then hit by two quick goals from the sixth minute on.

Keith Keoghan controversially won possession – off Elliott – and launched it long to McGowan, who held off two defenders and the goalkeeper before kicking it to the net.

Three minutes later Douglas scored much more stylishly, spinning away from Ryan McCambridge before firing a low angled shot into the far bottom corner.

With Douglas and free-taker Jack Regan in fine form the Royals opened up a double scores advantage, 2-8 to 0-7.

After that, though, it was all Antrim, sparked by that goal after 20 minutes by Elliott. Collecting a hand-pass from Neil McManus, he burned off a defender before scorching a shot past Shane McGann.

The Saffron selectors played their part too, making a series of positional switches, and altering the tactical approach. Having started with number 15 Eoghan Campbell as a sweeper, they switched to man-for-man midway through the first half, to excellent effect.

With Campbell moved in midfield alongside the superb Simon McCrory, and Elliott released into attack, Antrim had the platform on which to build a big victory.

At the back, captain Conor McKinley moved onto the dangerous Douglas and suddenly the scores were only going in one direction, the right one for Antrim.

Peden put the praise on the players, saying: “When you make changes like that, from sweeper to man-to-man, boys know they can take their men on. We were getting a bit exposed – their man up front [McGowan] was doing damage while their man at the back [Stephen Morris] was cleaning up.

“Once we went man-on-man we showed we could take them. That’s when Nigel and Conor came into their own. When Conor gets round, he gets away; when there’s another man there he closes him down.”

The Antrim boss also lauded the workrate of his players, commenting: “Neil McManus’s engine, nobody is going to doubt that engine of his. He keeps working and working and working and Donal [McKinley] up front was tremendous with his hooking and blocking and that is where he is really good.

“Simon [McCrory] had a great game in the middle of the field, there is no question about that. He swept up a lot for us.”

All true enough, but Loughgiel lad McKinley also scored two points inside the same minute to lift Antrim further after their opening goal and McCrory scored a fine point to put them ahead for the first time since the fifth minute, a lead they were never to lose, the Johnnies man adding two more in the second period.

In fact what had looked like being yet another defeat against the Royals turned into a procession as their Saffrons’ scoring streak extended to 1-7 without reply and they went in three up at the break, 1-14 to 2-8.

Meath ended their 20-minute scoring drought, albeit from a dubious free, but Antrim could not be contained.

Three more goals inside as many minutes, from the 45th onwards, made absolutely certain of victory.

First Michael Armstrong supplied Johnston to shimmy and shoot low to the net.

Then Elliott turned and rattled a rasper past McGann, before cheekily dummying and cutting in along the right as he completed his hat-trick by squeezing the sliotar in from a narrow angle.

McCrory extended Antrim’s lead to 16 points, 4-22 to 2-12, in the 55th minute before a flurry of placed ball pointing from Regan brought some consolation to Meath.

Yet Antrim were never under threat, Peden never worried, pointing out: “I thought we were always in control, we controlled the game. Hurling matches are going to go like that, you get so far in front you can sit back, but we sat and controlled.

“Ok, there was a lapse, but then we got good points from Conor, Nigel, and Simon, which got our momentum back up again.”

Impressive wing-back Joe Maskey added his second point from play and Antrim rammed home their superiority at the very end after sub Eoin O’Neill was fouled, Johnston confidently converting the resultant penalty.

Peden hailed the contribution of all involved, concluding: “From one to 20, character was shown. Many a team might have lay down, but we didn’t lie down, we rose to the occasion and came back.”

If Antrim keep going in this direction, they’ll take some stopping in this competition.