Limp display leaves Carlow in relegation mix
Antrim's Ruairi Donaghy shakes hands with Kevin McDonald of Carlow after the game Photo: ©INPHO/Dan Clohessy
Going into the third round of National Hurling League Division 1B fare it might be a bit previous to talk about four point games and how important this test in Corrigan Park, Belfast was for both sides.
Yet if ever Carlow needed to produce a performance then this was the day to do it. Two weeks previously Antrim had been on the end of a ten-point filleting from Kildare. If Carlow had won here there was a fair chance it would have been enough to keep them out of the relegation places. This was the day.
Inexplicably Carlow chose this match to produce what was one of their most disappointing performances of recent times.
For almost all of the first half, the visitors gave as good as they got. They created goal chances with Chris Nolan bringing a fine save from Antrim keeper, Cormac McFadden. Later on, when a John Michael Nolan shot hit the left-hand upright with Paddy Boland lurking in front of goal Carlow needed the bounce to go their way. Fortune favourite the home side and they easily cleared their lines. The St Mullins man was left to ponder what might have been.
At the dressing room end of the ground, Antrim butchered a great goal chance when Seann Elliott went for a point with James McNaughton free inside him and a clear run on the posts.
The rate of scoring on a heavy pitch was slow. Particularly in the opening half. Elliott landed four points from placed balls and frees for Antrim. In that first half, two more of the Saffron forwards, Conor Johnston and Conal Cunning raised white flags while Keelan Molloy at midfield also posted a brace of points.
Four of the Carlow forwards, Donagh Murphy, Chris Nolan, John Michael Nolan and Jack Treacy all scored from play with Marty Kavanagh securing four points from placed balls. Kevin McDonald was also on target with a long range free to leave Antrim leading 0-10 to 0-9 at the break.
The second half was an unmitigated disaster for the away side. From the moment Elliott converted a 65 in the 36th minute, it was death by a thousand cuts for the visitors.
Paddy Boland did make one of those high catches which is very much part of his game and taking his point, it was an opportunity for the visitors to find some inspiration.
It was never to be. Antrim hunted in packs. The Carlow challenge dissipated. They began to lose all the mini battles and even though Antrim registered a number of careless wides, it was clear the visitors were going to return home empty handed.
Over seventy minutes, eight of Antrim’s starting fifteen all scored from play. Out of a total of fifteen scores, their full-forward line accumulated seven points. Keelan Molloy attacked at will from midfield securing four points from play.
Inside, the Antrim 20 metre line was all but No-Man’s Land territory for for a lethargic Carlow side as a hugely motivated home defence defended on their own 45 metre line. From a visitors point of view, it was dispiriting stuff.
The end couldn’t come quickly enough for the visitors but they had to play an extra unwanted five minutes of extra time. That was just rubbing salt into the wounds.
Scorers:
Antrim: S Elliott 0-8 (65 5fs), C Cunning 0-6, K Molloy 0-4, J McNaughton 0-2 (1f), E O’Neill, R Donaghy, C Johnston, S Rooney, N O’Connor 0-1 each.
Carlow: M Kavanagh 0-5 (65 4fs), K McDonald 0-2 (1f), P Boland, C Nolan, D Murphy, JM Nolan, J Treacy 0-1 each.
ANTRIM: Cormac McFadden; Stephen Rooney, Niall O’Connor, Paddy Burke; Eoin McFerran, Joe Maskey, Gerard Walsh; Ryan McCambridge, Keelan Molloy; Paul Boyle, Conor Johnston, Ruairi Donaghy; Sean Elliott, James McNaughton, Conal Cunning.
Subs: Scott Walsh for McFerran (57), Eoin McNeill for Boyle (59), Joseph McLaughlin for Donaghy (64), Morgan Nelson for Johnston (67), Ryan McNulty for Walsh (61).
CARLOW: Brian Tracey; Niall Bolger, Dion Wall, Paul Doyle; Fiach O’Toole, Kevin McDonald, Paidi O’Shea; Fiachra Fitzpatrick, Jon Nolan; Chris Nolan, Donagh Murphy, Paddy Boland; Jack Treacy, John Michael Nolan, Marty Kavanagh.
Subs: Ted Joyce for J.M. Nolan (42), Richard Coady for Boland (52), Kevin Kavanagh for Murphy (57), Conaill Fitzpatrick for Bolger (61), Eric English for O’Shea (67).
Referee: Shane Hynes (Galway).
