THE Walsh Cup will likely come to an end for Antrim and Galway at Darver Centre of Excellence in Louth on Saturday (2pm) as both will aim to put last week’s disappointment behind them.
The Tribesmen were shredded 3-29 to 0-19 by Dublin who are now all but assured of a place in the final should they avoid a heavy defeat against Offaly, while Antrim’s second half revival against the Faithful in Tullamore was not enough to make up for a disappointing first half display.
With the National League just a fortnight away, time is running out to eradicate the gremlins from the system and Antrim manager Darren Gleeson acknowledges that his players must produce much better if they are to complete with Henry Shefflin’s side and go into the Kilkenny game on February 6 in a positive frame of mind.
“Galway next week will be a good challenge for us again,” said Gleeson after the Offaly defeat.
“I didn’t see the results of the other game, whether who’s through to the final after that one, but we will be looking forward to that.
“That’s a real step-up in class and we’d want to be well above any level we hit there today to be able for them.”
Gleeson was hugely disappointed with Antrim’s efforts in the first half at the weekend when they looked extremely off colour and made countless mistakes.
The Tipperary native acknowledges that results in January are not going to define a season, but performances are still important and Antrim’s inability to take goal chances when they were on top was another worry as he insists they can’t afford to let those chances come and go against top opposition.
“You can be positive too far,” he said of the Saffrons’ second half display.
“The fact of the matter is that when you are playing inter-county hurling, you’ve got to be ruthless and if you’re not ruthless, you’re not going to be winning games.
“It’s a pre-season game so it is what it is. Both teams are in the middle of a training cycle and the results that matter will come in the league, but all counties are improving and we need to keep our progress chart going in the right direction.
“We look like we’ve just plateaued a small bit there from the back end of last year into the beginning of this year, but we have a few weeks to address it before the League.”
