Allianz Hurling League Division 1B
Antrim v Waterford (Corrigan Park, Sunday, 1.30pm, live on BBC iPlayer)

WITH half of their league games now in the books, finding consistency in the second half of the campaign is imperative for Antrim and that all begins on Sunday when Waterford visit Corrigan Park.

To say it’s been up and down so far would be an understatement, with an impressive win over Westmeath following a heavy loss in Dublin, but then came another day to forget when Antrim were well off the pace in Offaly.

That leaves Davy Fitzgerald’s men with one big objective over the next three games: gain enough points to remain in the division as the threat of relegation now looms large with two teams facing the drop to Division Two.

In a seven-team division, there isn’t a great deal of room for error and there have been enough of those in their road defeats, so will home comforts again see an upturn in performance?

It’s a case of ‘will the real Antrim please stand up’ and stand up they must this week as they will face a Waterford side determined to find form of their own following their opening loss to Carlow, although they improved a fortnight ago in their win over Laois.

Gaining the inside track on the opposition this week shouldn’t be much of an issue with Antrim manager Davy Fitzgerald at the helm with the Déise over the past two years, while coach Pat Bennett is the father of Shane, Stephen (injured) and Kieran.

They were solid, if unspectacular, in that 10-point win over Laois with Padraig Fitzgerald, Patrick Fitzgerald and Jamie Barron leading the way for Peter Queally’s side that saw Dessie Hutchinson come off the bench.

And there will be no complacency for the Munster side as they have fresh memories of recent games against Antrim with a penalty save at the death seeing them deny the hosts a share of the spoils at Corrigan Park in 2022, while the following year in Dungarvan, they were pushed hard by an Antrim who played over half the game with 14 players.

It can be accepted they will come prepared for a battle and Antrim simply must match that appetite for the hard yards which was on show against Westmeath but then found themselves completely out-hustled in Tullamore.

“They do work hard and trust me, they have talent and you’ve seen it when they’re good in Corrigan, they’re good,” Fitzgerald said after the Offaly defeat.

“We’ve Waterford in Corrigan and they’re going to be really in form to give us a going over because they won’t be happy with their start against Carlow.

“So, I’ve said, we’ve just got to survive this year and learn. But that’s one of the big issues we have to sort, is that form away from Corrigan.

“If we’re beaten, I don’t mind, but we have to be consistent in the way we apply ourselves.

“If you look at Westmeath, look at the amount of turnovers and dispossessions in the tackle. We were good in the tackle. Offaly hammered us in the tackle. We’ve got to figure that out.”

The performance in Offaly wasn’t helped by injuries sustained, with Conall Bohill pulling up in the warm-up and Gerard Walsh forced off early with an ankle injury, while Conor Johnston was another to hobble off.

The week off may help the recovery process but more importantly, give them time to work on what has gone wrong on the road.

From the outset, the Antrim boss has warned there will be bumps on the road as he implements what he feels needs to be changed.

His time with the players has been limited, but the up-and-down performances highlight that main issue of consistency, which has been a glaring issue for quite some time.

The two points on the board so far are highly unlikely going to be enough to remain in Division 1B, so this week is all about winning the individual battles, cutting out the mistakes and improving accuracy with shooting and passing. Do all of that and they will give themselves a chance. 

“They can bring all the Davy Fitz’s or whoever else is there; it doesn’t matter until we make sure that we’re consistent over a period of time,” the Clare man reiterated.

“I can’t figure out why they shouldn’t be because they work extremely hard. I don’t know. I’m just baffled but we’ll try and get to the bottom of it and sort it.

“I’ve said it from day one, it could get worse before it gets better. I’ve said it but there are very few people who just come in and make it happen like that.

“I want to try everything I can. I am giving it a lot of time and a lot of effort. So are the lads in the coaching team; we’ve worked really hard on certain things. We’re training from December 7, that’s when we started. That’s probably the bones of seven or eight weeks. That’s where we’re at.

“We’re right in relegation (danger) now, there’s no point in saying anything else. So I’m not going to cover over that; that’s where we’re at and we’ve got to try and stay up, end of story.”