NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE: IT MAY appear strange to be promoting Antrim against Offaly as the headline act in the final round of the Allianz National Hurling League. But with nothing left to play for in Division One, Division Two thus comes under the spotlight this Sunday – and also the live cameras of TG4.
The stakes are high nonetheless. A victory for either team would send them into the Division Two final in two weeks’ time, where the winning prize is promotion to Division One. Wexford would provide the opposition there, assuming they beat Carlow, at home, also on Sunday.
Offaly have the advantage in that they top the division, one point clear of Antrim, and with a far superior scoring difference, so a draw would be enough to see them through. They’ll also have home advantage in Tullamore.
Not that they’ll be taking anything for granted. Antrim can be notoriously stubborn opposition when there’s something to play for, and in fact overturned Wexford back on March 1st. Joint Antrim manager Dominic McKinley has that sneaky confidence in his voice when admitting these are the games they typically relish.
“Sure, it’s a game we’re hoping we can win,” he says. “We’ve had some good games with Offaly over the years. And they’re one of the teams we’ve always done pretty well against. And I don’t see that changing on Sunday. If we perform to the best of our ability, stay in there, we’re capable of winning. Simple as that. So we’re just concentrating on our own performance.
“The one thing I will say is that we’ve been up and down a wee bit this year. That is a concern. But when it comes to the bigger games we seem to respond quite well.
“Offaly are expected to win, but for anyone who plays hurling, these are the days you look forward to, the head-to-head, winner takes all. And may the best man come out of there. It’s basically a championship game, with the pressure. So it’s going to come down to who performs on the day”
The “up and down” form that McKinley refers to includes that win over Wexford, followed by a draw with Westmeath, and then a shock loss to Carlow: “Sure, that was a bit of a surprise. We travelled to the game that morning, and that may have played a part. We didn’t have a great deal of hurling done at that stage either. It’s still not easy to pinpoint what went wrong, but we just didn’t seem to be up for the game, whether it was respect, or whatever.
“But Carlow played well, and we lost our discipline in the end as well, losing two players.
“But irrespective of what happened there, or anywhere, we felt it was always going to come down to this Offaly game. Even if we had won all our games coming into this, our scoring average wouldn’t have been enough to see us through.
“We were always going to have to beat Offaly to get into the final. That’s what we set out to do, and hopefully we can finish it off now on Sunday.”
Win or lose on Sunday, Antrim still have a big season ahead, thanks to their introduction to the Leinster championship. Their opening game against Dublin in Croke Park may well be their biggest game of the century so far.
“That is true,” adds McKinley, “and June 7th is always in the back of our mind. That’s something we’re working towards, a unique occasion for everybody, and again what makes Sunday so important. A win here would give us another high-level match in the final.
“But Dublin is going to be billed very highly. Anthony Daly has come in there and done very well. Dublin are far advanced of us now at juvenile level.
“But they’re a team as well where there is no fear factor, unlike say Kilkenny. It’s the Wexfords and Dublins and Offaly of this world that we’re in and around, and the teams we should be capable of beating.”
As usual, however, injuries to Antrim can be costly – and missing for Sunday is star midfielder Paul Shields, with a groin problem, while centre back Johnny Campbell also doubtful with a hamstring.
“They’re two major losses, because at the end of the day, we haven’t great resources in Antrim. But everyone is just looking forward to it.”
Back in Division One, and with Cork safe from relegation, new manager has reverted to experimental mode for the meeting with Waterford – and includes four players from the “developmental” line-up of his predecessor, Gerald McCarthy.
Full back Killian Cronin, corner back Chris Murphy, wing forward Graham Callanan and corner forward Barry Johnson come into the starting 15; Jerry O’Connor and Erin’s Own Kieran Murphy form a new midfield partnership, while Pa Cronin and Fintan O’Leary take over up front in place of Ben O’Connor and Neil Ronan.
Former Australian Rules convert Aisake Ó hAilpín had a trial under Walsh last weekend, but hasn’t made the starting line-up on this occasion.
CORK(SH v Waterford): D Óg Cusack; S O'Neill, K Cronin, C Murphy; T Kenny, R Curran, K McGann; K Murphy (Erin's Own), J O'Connor; G Callanan, P Horgan, P Cronin; B Johnson, F O'Leary, C Naughton.
