NHL DIVISION 1B
ANTRIM 1-19
CLARE 2-30
Ruairi Óg GAC, Cushendall
ANTRIM suffered a home defeat in the second round of this season’s Allianz Hurling League after a 14-point loss at the hands of Munster side Clare on Sunday.
Despite eleven first half wides, Clare stormed to an impressive victory over Davy Fitzgerald’s Antrim in the Allianz Division 1B at Cushendall.
Seaan Elliot exchanged scores with Mark Rodgers in the opening minutes with the pair showing their deadeye from the free position.
Before long Antrim found themselves with a hefty deficit as they struggled to cope with Mark Rodgers and the Clare forward line, including All-Stars David Reidy and Tony Kelly.
Antrim did show they had some fight within themselves as Sean Duffin and Joe Maskey both drilled points between the posts for the Saffrons, but it already looked grim for Antrim as they sat five points in deficit of their Munster opponents.
Antrim found themselves saved at times from Loughgiel’s Cormac McFadden who produced two superb saves to deny Reidy and Shane Meehan from opening the goal tally for Clare in the opening 20 minutes.
Meehan would produce the goods for Clare moments before the half as they looked to pull clear of Antrim after he finally found a major in the opening half. Clare forward, David Fitzgerald’s driving run saw him clean through on goal but opted to pass to Meehan who would eventually find the net after a scuffle in the box.
Clare midfield stalwart, Ryan Taylor, spoke to the Andersonstown News after full-time, with the midfielder delighted with the overall result for his side but offered huge praise to the Saffrons.
“We knew it was going to be a big challenge having to come all the way up here today. You know we came up here four or five years back and we were beaten that day so you know I’ve been in Antrim and know what it’s like to lose, so we really are under no illusion that it was going to be an easy day out,” reflected Taylor.
“You know Antrim are a very tough bunch and they always give you a physical game that has to be said. We did though put in a strong performance, I think the score line reflects that, but there is probably still a lot that we will look back on and realise we need to work on it but, yeah, we are happy because it’s another victory and another step in the right direction.”
Antrim will look to bounce back when they face Kildare next week
The second-half was a better contest as Antrim did give a better account of themselves as Seaan Elliot continued to be flawless from the set-pieces seeing white flags raised on all but one of his frees on the afternoon.
Antrim’s substitutes Keelan Molloy and Jack McCloskey proved to be a handful as they pointed four points in a matter of minutes to reduce the Clare lead to within eight.
But hope was dashed quickly when Fitzgerald found himself in space once again and slapped an effort down with his hurl and beyond the Antrim shot-stopper McFadden.
Conal Cunning did blast one into the net for the Saffrons with ten minutes remaining after the Dunloy man escaped a huddle with the ball and used his blistering pace as he bore down on goal to thunder an effort past the Clare shot-stopper.
Ryan McCambridge took a terrific effort which sailed between the posts and Cunning once more pointed from close range.
However, their efforts were in vain as Tony Kelly showed his elite accuracy notching four in response at the tail end of the second half as Clare stormed to a 14-point win.
Antrim will take positives from the second-half, but will need to show a much more impressive 70-minutes if they are to avoid the drop this season.
Clare will now be set to take on Down next Sunday in Division 1B, whilst Antrim travel to Kildare next weekend as they hope to avenge their pre-season defeat to the newly promoted side.
Antrim: C McFadden; R McCormick, E McFerran, P Burke; S Rooney, S McKay 0-1, J Maskey 0-1; R McCambridge 0-1, E O’Neill; S Walsh, P Boyle, S Duffin 0-1; S Elliott 0-10f, J McNaughton, C Cunning 1-1
Subs: J McLaughlin for S McKay (25), C Johnston for P Boyle (44), J McCloskey 0-2 for E O’Neill and K Molloy 0-2 forR McCambridge (both 51), K McCann for S Walsh (63).
Clare: E Foudy; D McMahon 0-1, C Cleary, Rory Hayes; D Ryan 0-1, J Conneally, C Malone; D Lohan 0-1, R Taylor 0-2; P Duggan, T Kelly 0-5, D Fitzgerald 1-1; S Meehan 1-3, D Reidy 0-1, M Rodgers 0-12 (0-6f)
Subs: R Hayes on for J Conneally (35’) C Leen on for R Hayes (50’), J Kirwan on for D Reidy, S Dunford on for S Meehan
