NHL Division 1B, round three: Antrim 2-22 Waterford 3-21
THIRTEEN proved to be unlucky for Neil McManus in the end but the Cushendall man quite rightly remained an Antrim hero despite failing to convert a penalty deep into added time which would have secured a dramatic draw.
Instead, McManus's shot towards the top corner was flicked over the bar by flying Waterford goalkeeper Shaun O'Brien to bring the Antrim full-forward's tally to 0-13 rather than 1-12.
So Antrim had to content themselves with another tale of 'what might have been', the sort of story which sickens manager Darren Gleeson and his players, after their visitors dominated the third quarter of this contest.
Yet the large crowd at Corrigan Park was thoroughly entertained, Waterford were extremely worried, and the performance levels keep going upwards as the Saffrons head to what's always been their most winnable match in this division, away to Laois next Sunday.
Even a draw here might not mean much in the overall scheme of things if Antrim lose in O'Moore Park, which was about the only consolation Gleeson could find in the immediate aftermath after failing to see off an under-strength Waterford who were reduced to 14 men before half-time.
The fact that it was corner-forward Colin Dunford who was sent off, for striking, having earlier struck two goals, should have boded well for the hosts, especially as corner-back David Kearney was containing Stephen Bennett on the other side, impressively so after the Ballysaggart man's 3-8 in the 7-31 put past Laois.
However, Antrim failed to make use of their extra man, with captain and centre half-back Eoghan Campbell the spare man but not getting on the ball enough.
Indeed, opposite him Waterford's Austin Gleeson stepped up superbly in the second half, and inspired the Deise to another victory, albeit one much more hard-earned than the previous weekend.
"If a man gets put off, for or against, you always have a plan in place for it, but it didn't come off," said his namesake Darren with a sigh. "Nothing for it, a massive game next week. It's a league and you get judged at the end of it."
Antrim had a very good first half, admittedly with the win, starting strongly then quickly responding with a goal of their own from Domhnall Nugent after Dunford had found the net to put Waterford ahead for the first time.
The Saffrons opened up a six-point advantage, 1-11 to 1-5, and even after Dunford goaled again, after a long delivery from Tadhg de Burca wasn't cleared, the hosts went in for the break leading by 1-14 to 2-7.
Yet Waterford stunned Antrim early in the second half, out-scoring them by 1-10 to 0-4, to go five ahead, 3-17 to 1-18. The ultimately decisive third goal was finished by one of two half-time substitutes, Michael Kiely, from a superb pass by Stephen Bennett - unfortunately, from a home perspective, following a poor play out of defence by full-back Gerard Walsh.
"Our work-rate dropped. We had an extra man, but instead of 13 men marking and leaving one man free, we didn't seem to do that," complained Gleeson. "Waterford started actually getting more space."
To their immense credit, the slightly shell-shocked Saffrons re-grouped, and one of their replacements, Ciaran Clarke narrowed the deficit with a 62nd minute goal, but they just could not draw level.
The wonderful Austin Gleeson kept Waterford's tally ticking over, bringing them to 30, 3-21 in added time.
McManus might have matched that, but it wasn't to be.
Forty-eight scores, 24 apiece, the difference being the last score, a penalty over the bar rather than going under it.
Waterford manager Liam Cahill admitted he was relieved to take the win, having been prepared to settle for a point in those nerve-jangling closing moments, with the penalty awarded after Kearney powered forward for Antrim and had a shot blocked, before a goalmouth scramble.
"Delighted to come up here and get the two points - really difficult place to come to, we knew that's how it would be before coming up," said Cahill.
"This Antrim team performed really aggressively on their home patch, it was a very difficult game for us to get a handle on, and we're just glad to get back down the road with two points.
Apart from the defeat for Antrim, the only disappointing aspect of the day were reports of more sectarian taunts directed from southerners to northerners, a plague on the game.
Afterwards, McManus and Austin Gleeson were surrounded by young supporters, demanding they sign programmes, hurls, and jerseys - a great look for hurling, as compared to such stupid sounds.
Antrim: R Elliott; D Kearney, G Walsh (0-1), S Rooney; P Burke, E Campbell, R McGarry; K Molloy (0-2), D McKernan (0-1); M Bradley (0-2), D Nugent (1-0), C Cunning (0-2); S Elliott (0-1), N McManus (0-13, 0-8 frees, 0-1 '65', 0-1 penalty), C Johnston.
Substitutes: N O'Connor for Rooney (h-t); C Clarke (1-0) for Johnston (52); J McNaughton for Bradley (52); C McCann for S Elliott (60).
Waterford: S O'Brien; C Gleeson, C Prunty, I Daly; C Dalton, T de Burca (0-1), T Barron (0-1); D Lyons (0-1), J Fagan; N Montgomery (0-2), A Gleeson (0-8, 0-4 frees, 0-1 sideline), DJ Foran; S Bennett (0-6, 0-5 frees), C Kirwan (0-1), C Dunford (2-1).
Substitutes: J Prendergast (0-1 free) for Kirwan (h-t); M Kiely (1-0) for Foran (h-t); C Daly for Barron (57); K Bennett for Montgomery (71).
Red card: Dunford (31).
Referee: Thomas Gleeson (Dublin).
