Allianz Hurling League Division 1B Antrim v Westmeath
(Corrigan Park, Sunday, 2pm, live on BBC Iplayer)

PATIENCE remains the call from the Antrim hurling camp as the new ideas as tactical approach beds in, but certainly, the hope will be for a much-improved showing when they host Westmeath at Corrigan Park on Sunday.

Prior to last week’s Division 1B opener against Dublin at Croke Park, manager Davy Fitzgerald insisted there would be no overnight miracles and his vision is going to take time - perhaps the duration of the 2025 season - to see real progress.

But in an ultra-competitive division with trips to Offaly and Carlow to come, plus Waterford and Laois at home, points are going to have to supplement progress to stave off the threat of relegation.

Still, there is no suggestion the baby is about to be thrown out with the bathwater as they set their sights on their home opener.

If Dublin are familiar foes, Westmeath occupy the same bracket as the teams have met consistently in recent years with the last of those taking place in Mullingar in last year’s League with the Lake County claiming a six-point win.

Like Antrim, they too are under new management this year with Seoirse Bulfin taking over from Joe Fortune and this week will be their first full outing of 2025 as a frozen Cusack Park pitch saw their game against Laois postponed last weekend.

Therefore, there is no real gauge of where exactly they are heading into this weekend but Antrim do have a sense of where they are and what is required after the Dublin defeat.

That loss saw Conor Johnston removed from the starting line-up just before throw-in as he pulled up injured in the warm-up, while Niall O’Connor - who had been deployed in the role of sweeper - was forced off with an injury.

Keelan Molloy came in for Johnston and lasted the full 70 minutes, which is one plus as he returns to full fitness, while his Dunloy clubmate Seaan Elliott is another making his way back and saw minutes, as did Rossa’s Gerard Walsh who is getting up to speed after a break over the festive period.

The objective is for gradual improvements game-by-game and this weekend’s game against a familiar rival will give further signs as to where Antrim are on this new journey.

“We have Westmeath and that is going to be tough,” warned team coach, Pat Bennett who stood in for the suspended Fitzgerald at Croke Park at the weekend.

“That’s hard again but we just have to prepare and go again. They beat us last year in the League and will be coming up expecting to beat us again. We have to lift our heads and go at it again.”

The Waterford man echoed the sentiments of the Antrim manager by insisting they are simply at the start of a process and with limited time to work with the players, the new approach is going to take time to bed in.

Certainly, there was no sense of panic after the Dublin loss, but instead, it seemed a case of downloading information in terms of what has begun to sink in and what has not.

At the top end of the hurling pyramid, a split second makes all the difference and speeding up the process during a game is the key to getting results as against Dublin, Antrim’s players looked ponderous at times.

Perhaps that was an outcome of players having to remind themselves of what the plan is and going forward, the idea is for it all to become second nature.

It will take time to click and there is no expectation it will completely come together this week, but certainly a hoe for enough of it to get two points on the board.

“They’re used to playing one way and then you’re changing it,” Bennett accepted, a nod to the previous style employed by Darren Gleeson.

“When you’re telling them what to do, they’re thinking and when you think, you’re in trouble because you don’t have time.

“We gave away (frees) for overcarrying and that’s because they’re thinking ‘what do I do next?’. We’ve got to get them into a position where they don’t think and just play what’s in front of them to the system we have.

“We know what we should be doing, but if the system breaks down, then you have a problem. They have the freedom to go and play, but it’s not in their heads yet.

“It’s five weeks (preparation so far) and we just have to stick with it, but we couldn’t ask for any more as they have been brilliant, trained as hard as anybody, so we just have to pick ourselves up.”