Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
Antrim v Carlow (Corrigan Park, Sunday, 2pm)
 
THE situation is simple for Antrim’s hurlers on Sunday: Avoid defeat at home to Carlow and they remain in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship for 2025.

It’s a similar picture to this time last year when they travelled to Mullingar to face Westmeath knowing they had to win and they did just that in impressive fashion, so a repeat is required at Corrigan Park or the nightmare scenario of a return to the Joe McDonagh Cup will become a reality.

With home advantage, the call has been put out to everyone with an interest in Antrim hurling to flood the Whiterock Road venue and fully get behind the team to help drive them over the line on a day in which it will be needed most.

Of course, the hope was that the final day against Carlow would have been one in which they would be seeking a result to advance in the competition, but despite the stirring win over Wexford in round two, that is not the case.

Certainly, performances have been up and down throughout. The mauling by Kilkenny in Nowlan Park preceded that win over Wexford. There were high hopes of getting a result away to Dublin to take another major step forward, but that challenge disintegrated in the closing stages as the Dubs won well.

Then, last week, there were hopes at half-time against Galway that another seismic win was on the cards when they led, but it all unravelled when Ryan McGarry was red-carded and Galway were then able to find the space that wasn’t afford to them in the opening period.

“We will look at the positives from it but we will have to look at our discipline as I don’t know how many they scored from frees,” said Antrim manager Darren Gleeson afterwards.

“There are certain things we will have to tidy up, especially when a player goes through, you throw out your arms and when you do that, you’re saying to the referee you’ve done it (fouled). Our boys need to keep their arms in, but it’s a learning curve for everyone.

“Our discipline has to be 100 per cent for Carlow coming here. That’s the pivotal point of four, five, six years of work, so we have to make sure we are ready for that. We are going to have to win the game.”

There is no disputing the enormity of Sunday’s game, which will be the last outing for the Saffrons this year, regardless of the outcome.

They will have to do it without the suspended McGarry, while there are a number of injury concerns ahead of the game.

“Coby’s (Conal Cunning) foot flared up in the warm-up,” Gleeson confirmed.

“Conal Bohill I’d say is out and Eoghan Campbell came off. But look, you have to reassess.

“Every game takes a life of its own and the physios have a busy week ahead to get those boys right. That’s their job and we just have to be ready for Carlow.”

Cunning may be good to go, but Bohill and Campbell are certainly major concerns this week and their loss would be keenly felt.

Games against Carlow have always been close-run things. The last meeting between the sides was in the 2022 Joe McDonagh Cup when Antrim found the answers late to emerge winners by three, but they were tested that day and certainly will be on Sunday against The Barrowsiders who have proven themselves to be fit to compete at this level.

They pushed Galway in Dublin in their opening two games and then grabbed a draw at home to Kilkenny, a result that made the hurling world sit up and take notice.

A hammering at home to Wexford last Sunday was the first time Tom Mullally’s men were really taken apart in the competition and although there were just a few changes from the draw against Kilkenny, perhaps they may have one eye on this week’s trip to Belfast.

There can be little read into that game as they have consistently been a real threat to Antrim and will not feel daunted by the trip north.

Antrim game through the stress test in Mullingar last year, but it was only in the second half when they turned on the afterburners having trailed at the break.

This is a real do-or-die championship game; the forfeit of dropping out of the top tier one that neither side would like to think about.

The snakes and ladders system employed in hurling is not ideal for teams that are desperate to make gradual improvements and relegation will set either Antrim or Carlow back several steps when they are trying to narrow the gap on teams above them.

It may not be ideal, but it’s the system in place, so Sunday will likely be a ding-dong affair with both teams scrapping for their lives.

There is little either don’t know about the other, so it will be a day for cool heads and leaving every ounce of effort out on the field as the season ends for both regardless of the outcome.

Antrim managed to produce a big display when it was needed most 12 months ago and they simply must find another on Sunday.