LEINSTER U20 Hurling Championship play-off round one: Carlow 0-25 Antrim 2-16 (after extra-time)
Carlow pull out extra to see off the Saffrons
From Daire Walsh in Abbotstown
THERE was a sense of deja vu for the Antrim U20 hurlers at the National Games Development Centre in Abbotstown on Saturday afternoon.
Not only was this the second year in succession that the Saffrons suffered defeat to Carlow at the underage grade in Leinster – 2018 was the final season of the old U21 format – it also proved to be a repeat of their extra-time heartache from 12 months ago.
Despite the best efforts of Cu Chullain attacker Sean Elliott – who finished with an outstanding haul of 2-11 – Karl McKeegan’s men ultimately couldn’t halt the relentless Barrowside challenge.
“It’s tough to take whenever you get beaten in extra-time, but I suppose we were even lucky we got to extra-time,” Antrim boss McKeegan admitted.
“It shows good fight and at least they never gave up, and that’s all we can say. We didn’t play with the same intensity we played against Down [a Leinster qualifier in March]. It just showed there.”
Following an evenly-matched opening to the contest, Carlow pulled two points clear courtesy of Jon Nolan and Dean Tobin points.
The Ulster men subsequently received a significant boost on 24 minutes as opposition corner-forward Jason O’Neill was dismissed for a second yellow-card offence.
Antrim responded with unanswered scores by Elliott (free) and Dominic McEnhill – ensuring the sides were tied at 0-8 apiece during the interval.
Thanks to Elliott’s superb goal at a tight-angle, the Saffrons moved into the ascendancy four minutes after the restart. Even though their lead proved to be a short-lived, Elliott’s two-point salvo offered them breathing space inside the final-quarter of normal time.
Carlow simply refused to give in, though, and made light of their numerical disadvantage with a series of fine scores. Midfielder Ciaran Whelan amassed a final tally of 13 points and was particularly influential in this juncture of the play.
His brace of unanswered frees looked set to squeeze Carlow over the line, until Elliott dramatically fired beyond James Kavanagh reach deep into time added on.
As a result, an additional 20 minutes were required. Antrim remained on course for a place in the second round play-off when they developed a slender cushion (2-15 to 0-20) on the stroke of 70 minutes.
Indeed after Nolan and Elliott traded scores, Antrim remained in front with just four minutes left on the clock. It was at this stage that Carlow discovered an extra gear – Whelan (two), Dan Sheehan and Jack Flood hitting four points without reply to finally get the measure of the Saffron county.
While he wasn’t seeking to make excuses for their early exit, McKeegan felt Antrim’s lack of collective preparation for the game made life difficult for his players.
“We tried to get them together, but there’s a lot of club hurling going on. It’s not fair on the players either. We couldn’t really get them together for a collective session. We tried a few times. If boys want to really push on they’ve got to get training together.
“There’s so much fixtures going on and it’s overkill. I don’t know how you get around it. I’m not making excuses, but it’s tough on them. There’s no doubt about it,” McKeegan added.
MATCH STATS
Carlow: J Kavanagh; D Connors, J Ryan, D Jordan; E Kavanagh, T Lawlor, E Holland; C Whelan (0-13, 0-11 frees), B Hickey; D O’Toole, J Nolan (0-3), D Tobin (0-1); D Sheehan (0-4), C Kavanagh (0-2), J O’Neill (0-1).
Subs: R Whelan for Tobin (46), K Guideroa for O’Toole (53), T Daly for E Kavanagh (59), J Flood (0-1) (started extra-time), P O Se for Holland (71), O Ryan for C Kavanagh (73).
Yellow cards: J O’Neill (6 & 24), D Jordan (60+5).
Red cards: J O’Neill (24).
Antrim: P Mullan; F McCurry, L Gillan, A Crawford; R McGarry, C Boyd, C McHugh; S Walsh, R Molloy; D Smyth (0-1), C Bohill (0-1), C McFadden; S Elliott (2-11, 0-8 frees), D McEnhill (0-1), D Kilgore (0-1).
Subs: E McQuillan for McFadden (36), O Donnelly (0-1) for Walsh (38), O McAuley for Smyth (50), M Close for Bohill (53), E Elliott for Kilgore (59), McFadden for McEnhill (68), O Kearney for Donnelly (76), C McKendry for McAuley (78).
Yellow cards: C McHugh (40).
Referee: C Mooney (Dublin).