Allianz National Hurling League Division 1B: Antrim 0-15 Kilkenny 1-18
IT all felt a bit like Groundhog Day for the Antrim hurlers in Corrigan Park on Saturday afternoon. Another narrow defeat in Division 1B where the fine margins kill you.
In last season’s corresponding League fixture in Nowlan Park, Kilkenny edged it by three points. They doubled that winning margin in west Belfast.
Played in front of a sell-out crowd, Antrim never quite did enough in the second half to get the saffron faithful at their backs. They did threaten to rouse them a couple of times.
Twice Antrim made this League opener a two-point game through two converted frees from Dunloy’s Conal Cunning in the 53rd and 64th minutes, respectively, but each time Kilkenny responded and in the closing stages they pulled away from their hosts by rattling off the last four points of an encounter that never quite caught fire.
“Basic errors,” rued Antrim boss Darren Gleeson.
“We’re sitting here reflecting on the game afterwards and there’s disappointment that we didn’t beat Kilkenny, so you can read into that either way.”
Not even the return of Dunloy quartet Ryan Elliott, Keelan Molloy, Conal Cunning and Ryan McGarry – with Phelim Duffin and Seann Elliott entering the fray after the restart – could inspire Antrim to victory.
For the most part, the home side were authors of their own downfall while Kilkenny – under new manager Derek Lyng following the retirement of Brian Cody last season after 24 years at the helm – ditched their traditional route-one hurling for a more precise, shorter game that troubled their hosts.
“[The difference in their play was] like night and day,” Gleeson said.
“We just lost our shape chasing their new game. We ran everywhere after them into different corners and they worked their way out of it. It was triangles and movement and because of that we lost our shape and found ourselves out of position.”
Billy Drennan of Galmoy had a dream NHL debut in west Belfast on Saturday, top-scoring with 1-8, with Paddy Deegan initiating so many Kilkenny attacks from deep.
And any 50-50 decisions that were going seemed to fall Kilkenny's way, much to the home side's chagrin.
The hosts trailed 1-10 to 0-9 at the break and needed Dunloy’s netminder Ryan Elliott to make two stunning saves from Martin Keoghan and Cian Kenny to keep them in the game, the latter chance coming from a giveaway pass by Niall O'Connor.
Like quite a number of the visitors' scores, Kilkenny’s goal was very avoidable.
Joe Maskey couldn’t quite clutch Elliott’s puck-out before the ball was ushered to Drennan who found the corner of the net after a quarter of an hour.
From Antrim’s perspective, there were too many fumbles, too many wrong decisions in possession and too many cluttered hand passes in difficult conditions that proved costly.
“There’s work-rate and there’s endeavour, but then there’s the slickness and the coolness... but there were some crazy passes hit into the centre of the field and we were punished for it,” Gleeson added.
“But that’s something we’ll take on the chin as a management team and we’ll go at it again against Dublin next week.”
Either side of those fumbles and sloppy passes, Antrim produced some real moments of quality.
Niall McKenna’s two points towards the end of the first half were sublime examples of slick team-work.
In the 28th minute, James McNaughton plucked Elliott’s puck-out out of the sky, a quick off-load to McKenna and the ball was sent between Kilkenny’s posts.
In first-half stoppage-time, Conall Bohill found Keelan Molloy down the line on the stand side, another quick off-load to McKenna and it looked as though Antrim had finally established some momentum going in at the break.
They kept last year’s beaten All-Ireland finalists scoreless between the 44th and 60th minutes – but only converted three points themselves during that period.
At number two, Paddy Burke was immense for Antrim. Full-back Ryan McGarry may have conceded three points off Martin Keoghan but denied the Kilkenny full-forward on countless other occasions.
Michael Bradley and McKenna also gave strong accounts of themselves, but Antrim didn’t carve out any goal chances with Deegan, Padraig Walsh and Cillian Buckley providing an impressive defensive shield.
“Antrim are a very impressive team,” said Kilkenny boss Derek Lyng.
“It’s the first match of the year and I’m just happy with the overall performance. It was tough conditions but we got over the line. A couple of times Antrim had momentum and they were getting their scores a little bit easier but we found a way and got a score or two ourselves.”
Lyng, though, didn’t give too much away in terms of the tactical recalibration that Kilkenny have undergone since Cody’s departure.
“We want players to make decisions on the pitch and we’re trying to equip them with the options and to play the game in front of them,” he said.
“At times it worked well, other times we over-elaborated and made life hard for ourselves. But I’m not looking for a perfect performance at this time of year. We’re trying to do the right things and hopefully we can improve as the year goes on and tidy up on those things.”
There was a time when Antrim would have been privately content with a six-point loss to a team like Kilkenny - which illustrates the gains they've made under Gleeson.
Now, they just niggle the life out of the Tipperary man and his players because they know there's more in themselves. Much more.
Antrim: R Elliott; P Burke (0-1), R McGarry, N O’Connor; G Walsh, E Campbell, C Bohill (0-1); M Bradley, J Maskey; N McKenna (0-2), K Molloy (0-1), J McNaughton (0-1); C Cunning (0-8 frees), N McManus (0-1), E O’Neill Subs: P Duffin for N O’Connor (h/t), S Elliott for E O’Neill (h/t), C Johnston for J Maskey (43), P Boyle for K Molloy (64)
Yellow cards: C Cunning (33), P Burke (43), N McManus (50)
Kilkenny: A Tallis (0-1 free); M Butler, H Lawlor, N Rowey; C Buckley, P Walsh, D Blanchfield; P Deegan (0-1), J Donnelly (0-1); W Walsh (0-1), C Kenny, P Cody (0-2); B Drennan (1-8, 0-7 frees), M Keoghan (0-3), B Ryan (0-1) Subs: S Murphy for P Cody (h/t), T Phelan for C Kenny (63), A Murphy for W Walsh (68), G Dunne for J Donnelly (73)
Referee: C Mooney (Dublin)
