It was a poor performance, but a morale-boosting victory for us.”Īntrim started brightly and raced into a 0-3 to no score lead with Conal Cunning and Paddy Burke finding their range in the early exchanges.īut once Cahill grabbed the first of his 14 points on five minutes, you could tell Offaly were up for the fight. If Offaly had done that here, it would have turned the competition upside down. Offaly learned a lot from the last day and they came with a very good game plan and we struggled. “It was end to end, there were balls flying into the net as soon as they were being put in the net at the other end,” said the Antrim manager. They’ll feel they’ve used up their get-out-of-jail card as they look ahead to an enticing Ulster derby with Down in Ballycran next Sunday.Īntrim may have been ahead for the guts of an hour of this pulsating encounter but their various leads never looked convincing.Īfter signing a few hurls and posing for a couple of photographs with Antrim fans at the end, the most pleasing aspect of the day for Darren Gleeson was the final score. The Antrim supporters, players and management team breathed a huge sigh of relief. In the fourth minute of stoppage-time, the St John’s forward was as cool as ice as he found the bottom corner of the net to put the home side two in front.Ĭahill replied with a placed ball with the last puck of the game before Dublin referee Chris Mooney blew the final whistle. On Saturday, he was on fire, grabbing a game-winning 2-2 in the second half. The visitors led towards the end of the first half and although Antrim forged ahead in the second period, Offaly were always within striking distance.Ī Paddy Clancy goal and an Eoghan Cahill free edged Offaly in front by a point in stoppage-time – but cometh the hour, cometh the man.īattling back from a couple of injuries, Conor Johnston has flickered in the saffron jersey this season. With Antrim uncertain in defence, Offaly looked as though they were timing their run to perfection to take the spoils in this entertaining Joe McDonagh opener in west Belfast. In Navan three weeks ago, they pulverised the Faithful County but on home soil on Saturday Michael Fennelly’s men proved a much tougher nut to crack despite the visitors playing the last 24 minutes with 14 men following the dismissal of midfielder Jack Screeney for two bookable offences. Their NHL Division 1B campaign was very much a case of ‘could have – should have’, as they ended up needing a play-off win over Offaly to secure their top flight status. At Corrigan Park on Saturday afternoon, they posted a patchy display against Offaly, but finally got the rub of the green in a big game. THE Antrim hurlers have played much better in games this year and lost. Joe McDonagh Cup Round robin series: Antrim 3-22 Offaly 2-24
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