SEANN Elliott insists the Antrim hurlers aren’t in the Leinster SHC to make up the numbers and is confident they can reproduce their gusty performance they delivered against Dublin in the remainder of the competition.
The Dunloy livewire produced easily his best performance in an Antrim jersey in Saturday’s drawn game, grabbing two points – one a sublime sideline – and was heavily involved in Conor Johnston’s first-half goal that really gave the side a foothold in the game.
With Wexford on the horizon next weekend, Elliott was in bullish mood about Antrim’s prospects and sang the praises of the squad’s preparation, which included a week in Portugal.
“We’re not here just to hand out points – we’re here to compete,” said Elliott.
“At the start of the year we said we’re here to win – not to make up the numbers. That Dublin performance just shows where we’re at, that we were leaving Corrigan Park disappointed we didn’t win.
“We played them down in Navan a couple of years ago and they hammered us. So it shows you where we’ve came from and where we’re planning on going.”
Elliott admits that he hasn’t always produced his best form for his county but feels the five-week gap between League and Championship this year aided him greatly.
“I struggled a bit this year but I was happy with my performance against Dublin. I don’t know if it was the length of the year with Dunloy or what, but I’m starting to get back. I think that five weeks helped me to get back into the swing of things and I hope to give this Championship a good rattle and do my best.”
For once, Antrim matched the Dubs physically last weekend with Elliott lauding the work the squad has been doing under the watchful eye of the county’s full-time S&C coach Brendan Murphy.
“Everything is there for you and we hope to get bigger, especially myself! We’re in the gym two or three nights a week so it’s definitely showing. I’d say we won most of the battles on the ground and getting bodies in against Dublin.
“Our motto was track your man. Dublin didn’t get any easy scores and we’re definitely going in the right direction.
“We’ve all the work done at this stage and it’s just about getting the bodies right again and hopefully there’s another big shift in us next weekend.
