Antrim ... 2-13 Down ... 0-6 Antrim cruised to victory in the final quarter to retain their and bring off a clean sweep of Ulster hurling titles this year as Down fell apart in the second half in a low-key affair in Casement Park yesterday.
The first half was evenly contested with Down having the better of the exchanges, but they missed a lot of good scoring chances. Three points from Down senior player Paul Braniff and one from Fintan Conway saw them lead by 0-4 to 0-1 10 minutes from half-time.
Antrim settled, with Ciaran Herron in brilliant form, scoring three points to give them a 0-5 to 0-4 half -time lead.
Down had dominated midfield through Brendan McGourty in the first half, but Antrim produced two master strokes. Ciaran Herron went to midfield and took control while substitute Sean Hall slammed in two goals which sealed victory for Antrim.
ANTRIM: G Magee; B McAuley, P Martin, C O'Grady; J Campbell, K Elliott, G Bell; M McClements, M Scullion; B Quinn (0-1), C Herron (0-6), C Tumelty; S Delargy (0-2), S McFadden (0-1), D McAuley (0-3). Subs: S Hall (2-0) for C Tumelty; G Connolly for S McFadden; C Cunning for S Bell; D Collins for K Elliott.
DOWN: K Keating; G Dynes, G Johnson, G Coffey; A Dynes, G Clarke (0-1), J McGrath; D McCusker, B McGourty; J Haughey, P Braniff (0-4), F Conway (0-1); N Magee, T Jennings, E Clarke. Subs: S Clarke for E Clarke; S Johnson for J Haughey; D Coffey for J McGrath; J Hughes for S Clarke; R Murray for B McCusker.
Referee: G Devlin (Armagh).
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