Allianz National Hurling League Division 1B: Antrim v Limerick (tomorrow, Cushendall, 2pm)
NOT only are Limerick showing that they’re the best team in Division 1B this year, they’re winning games without their sizeable Na Piarsaigh contingent.
When the All-Ireland Club series wraps up and the Fitzgibbon Cup concludes in Mallow this afternoon, the Shannonsiders should be gunning for the Liam MacCarthy Cup.
This Limerick side tick every conceivable box to do great things over the coming years.
Possibly the only saving grace from an Antrim perspective is that manager John Kiely travels to Cushendall tomorrow afternoon with a mere 22 players.
Sean Finn, Tom Morrissey, Gearoid Hegarty and Barry Murphy will line out for University Limerick against Fitzgibbon Cup final gate-crashers UCD today.
It’s unlikely all of them will be joining the travelling party for their trip to the Glens 24 hours later as Limerick bid to preserve their unbeaten record and strengthen their grip on top spot.
And it’s probably just as well the UL quartet won’t be involved tomorrow - from the start at least - given how well they performed in Limerick’s annihilation of Dublin last Saturday night.
Finn was impassable in the Limerick defence, Tom Morrisey run amok at centre-forward, Gearoid Hegarty was unmarkable on the left flank while Barry Murphy proved a handful in his first NHL start against the out-of-sorts Dubs.
In their place, Tom Condon, Colin Ryan, Barry O’Connell and Graeme Mulcahy win starts against Antrim. Even when Limerick are down to the bare bones, they are still a brilliant team.
Wing-forward David Reidy has returned to the Limerick fold after a year with Kildare and is playing well enough to push for a Championship place.
Patrickswell's Aaron Gillane had banked 1-4 after 24 minutes against Dublin last week and finished with 1-8.
His free-taking has been so impressive that Shane Dowling of Na Piarsaigh hasn’t been missed as much as Limerick initially thought.
Condon offers experience in place of Finn while half-backs Dairmaid Byrnes and Declan Hannon are excellent defenders and scoring threats too.
It goes without saying Antrim have their work cut out tomorrow.
After putting up excellent shows against All-Ireland champions Galway and Dublin, the Saffrons couldn’t reach the same heights against an under-rated Laois side last Saturday night and go into tomorrow’s clash with still no points on the board.
“We have to learn to deal better with expectations because nobody gave us a chance against Galway,” said joint boss Terence McNaughton.
“We went out and hurled really well and nobody gave us a chance against Dublin and we were unlucky. People gave us a chance against Laois and we felt that pressure. As a management team and as players, we have to deal with expectation.”
Despite feeling slightly deflated from their Portlaoise experience, Antrim are on the right road. They have conceded just one goal in three games and have done so with a good sprinkling of rookies in their starting line-ups.
But the problem is at the other end of the field.
Antrim aren’t scoring enough from open play – 3-18 from their attack across the three games.
“That comes from the way we set up and the forwards are being sacrificed a wee bit,” McNaughton acknowledged.
“It’s a bit hard on the forwards but they know the set up and they have to learn to deal with it.”
Limerick’s no-nonsense approach has served them well so far this year.
Their defence is excellent under the high ball, they score regularly from distance, they have experience in midfield and their long puck-outs will test the aerial ability of Antrim’s half-back line.
Limerick might be far short of their best team – but they still travel with sufficient talent and muscle to hold top spot and condemn their hosts to one of the relegation play-off berths.
Antrim (HL v Limerick): R Elliott; A Graffin, J Dillon, S Rooney; R McCambridge, P Burke, J Maskey; E Campbell, C McKinley; C Johnston, M Armstrong, N McManus; D McKinley, C McCann, N Elliott.
Limerick (NHL v Antrim): B Hennessy; T Condon, R McCarthy, R English; D Byrnes, D Hannon, D Morrissey; P Browne, C Ryan; D Reidy, C Lynch, B O'Connell; A Gillane, S Flanagan, G Mulcahy.
