Leinster SHC round robin: Antrim 3-20 Kilkenny 5-31
AS the final whistle sounded, all the young kids in their Saffron gear flooded over the fence and made a beeline straight to the 13-metre line at the clubhouse end of Corrigan Park.
There stood one TJ Reid, still masterful, still running the show, still scoring 2-9. Half an hour goes past and he’s still signing hurls and jerseys and helmets.
The first true bits of summer fought and won over the bit of a breeze blowing down. It was a glorious afternoon, made for hurling. The lovely dash of saffron and amber combined beneath the sun to create a visual delight.
It was all too pleasant.
Antrim needed a bit more of the squalor and unpleasantness that teams, the Cats included, had faced in west Belfast during the league.
Mossy Keoghan and Reid both had the umpire in possession of the green flag inside the first nine minutes.
Although Antrim held on to the bronco for dear life with a Keelan Molloy goal, just when they seemed to be settling into it, five unanswered points from play pulled Kilkenny 2-8 to 1-3 ahead.
From then on, there was never any sense that it would be anything other than what it was.
If Antrim thought Kilkenny might show them some mercy on their big day, they were badly mistaken. By half-time it was 4-16 to 1-7.
Every opportunity they got to go and look about goals, they took.
Only for Ryan Elliott in goals it would have been, in Darren Gleeson’s own words, “a mauling”.
Offered a crumb of comfort that the second half at least had a bit of a rally about it, the Antrim manager wasn’t really in the mood for taking it.
“Pfft…fight and heart…
“Yeah, there was, a small bit of character if you’re looking for a positive spin on it. I don’t have many positive spins on that.
“It was below par first half performance. Basic requirements, track your man, tough-tight, defending, putting yourself on the line – it wasn’t there.
“I mean that from one to fifteen, it just wasn’t at the level it was meant to be or the level you’d expect a team to be at. You should be seriously motivated when you get the opportunity to play a team like Kilkenny in your own house, and came flat.
“We’ll look at ourselves, I’ll look at myself and our management team and how we went about it. Then we’ll have a look at the players and see how we get it right for a couple of weeks’ time.”
Eoin Cody came in with the target on his back after an outstanding display against Galway but Paddy Burke kept him scoreless for 51 minutes. Instead, it was Mossy Keoghan who did the damage. He had a hat-trick inside 22 minutes, his pace and directness posing Niall O’Connor all sorts of problems.
But the malaise was so widespread. Despite going with a two-man full-forward line to try and protect themselves a bit, they were so bare and loose at the back. For a ten-minute spell in the first half it seemed that nobody was picking up Alan Murphy at all as he hit three points from play.
Kilkenny extracted the maximum they could have from the first 35 minutes. Derek Lyng’s men were slick and efficient and ruthless and if Antrim weren’t up to it, well that’s their problem.
Niall McKenna was the one man who wouldn’t have looked out of place in black and amber. Just back from injury, he made off with five points from play and was at the heart of just about anything good.
Neil McManus and Conor Johnston snaffled early second half goals off exposing Kilkenny two-v-two under the long ball, but McManus popped the hamstring and was walking so gingerly afterwards that you’d be surprised to see him again this summer.
Eoghan Campbell was milling around in a moon boot too, none of which is helping their cause.
Antrim did score 3-20, a tally that you’d expect to bring them into the final quarter of any game, but 2-13 of it came in the second half when Kilkenny didn’t really need to be keeping going.
The introduction of Stephen Rooney at corner-back just before half-time did make a bit of a difference. They shuffled the defensive pack around a bit. You can offer them the credit for solidifying a bit but it was still precarious too. Ryan Elliott was still making saves but they did cut Kilkenny’s scoring from 4-16 in the first half to 1-15 in the second.
Whereas Antrim were bringing on debutants Caolan McKernan and Seamie McAuley, the three-in-a-row Leinster champions had a past Hurler of the Year Richie Hogan and former Allstars Cillian Buckley, Padraig Walsh and Walter Walsh.
The latter made a significant impact in his 20 minutes or so, scoring two points and setting up TJ Reid to hammer the final nail home with the fifth goal near the end.
A really chastening afternoon for Antrim.
MATCH STATS
Antrim: R Elliott; P Burke, R McGarry, N O’Connor; G Walsh (0-1), M Bradley, C Bohill; J McNaughton (0-2), P Boyle (0-1); K Molloy (1-2), C Cunning (0-8, 0-6 frees, 0-1 65), N McKenna (0-5); Conor Johnston (1-0), N McManus (1-1), R McMullan
Subs: S Rooney for Bradley (34), E O’Neill for McMullan (52), D Nugent for McManus (52), C McKernan for Walsh (57), S McAuley for K Molloy (64)
Kilkenny: E Murphy; M Butler, H Lawlor, T Walsh; D Blanchfield (0-1), R Reid (0-2, 0-1 free), D Corcoran; A Mullen (0-1), A Murphy (0-4); T Phelan (0-1), J Donnelly, B Ryan (1-3); M Keoghan (3-3), TJ Reid (2-9, 0-5 frees, 0-1 65)
Subs: P Walsh for T Walsh (42), C Buckley (0-1) for A Murphy (48), W Walsh (0-2) for Phelan (54), R Hogan for Mullen (60), N Brennan for Keoghan (64)
Referee: S Hynds (Galway)
