Allianz Hurling League Division 1B
Carlow 1-21 Antrim 2-18
GERARD Walsh struck a last-gasp goal at Newtwatch Cullen Park on Sunday to grab a share of the spoils for Antrim against Carlow.
The big Rossa man stuck a free through a ruck of bodies which found the net and snatched a point the Saffrons deserved on their travels.
They had seen a penalty missed earlier and the post also would thwart them as it seemed it wasn't to be their day, but perseverance paid off as Davy Fitzgerald's men took a point back up the road, which was most welcome after a couple of difficult outings against Offaly and Waterford.
The point may not be hugely significant in terms of their battle to avoid the drop as it remains a win-or-bust assignment at home to Laois this weekend, but the draw will help put a spin in their step and ought to serve as a boost for their efforts as they showed plenty of battling spirit on the day.
"You'll probably say at the end that we were lucky for the draw," said Antrim boss, Davy Fitzgerald.
"We'd probably say, missed the penalty, hit the post, did a few things that we should have capitalised on a bit better. But, we're six down a half time, I think we've got seven or eight down. We're there, we're fighting. All they can ask, and all they've been saying the last few weeks is to bring that fight to the games.
"We've got a few thumpings that it's been tough. But, we showed the character that I know is in them.And the way they've trained is the way they played there today.
"That's how they've been training.So, yeah, some people may say we were lucky at the end. I don't feel we were lucky to get a draw."
It seemed it may be another away day defeat at the break as the hosts had moved into a 1-11 to 0-8 lead as Chris Nolan found the net from a tight angle with 28 played after a good move from the hosts.
At that stage, the sides were tied at 0-7, but Carlow would push on into the interval with James Doyle in fine form a Keen Molloy scorer was all Antrim could muster in response.
Throughout the half, they had remained in touch with Eoghan Campbell and James McNaughton on target, but needed to rally in the second period and set about it in the right manner as Conor Johnston clipped over a pair of scores to begin the response.
The scores would begin to flow as Antrim out-scored their hosts by five to one to get. to within a goal and were unlucky not to grab that major only for Johnston to see his shot come back off the post.
Cormac McKeown's introduction was providing added pace to the Antrim attack and he got on the board before they were awarded a 58th-minute penalty as James
McNaughton was taken out by Paul Doyle and although the offence was outside the area, it was deemed a goalscoring opportunity and a black card was also flashed at the Carlow defender.
Keelan Molloy nets Antrim's first major 
However, Brian Tracey would save McNaughton's effort with the rebound going wide and it began to feel like it could be another one of those days.
Those suspicions grew as Ciaran Whelan pointed to put four between the teams, but Antrim weren't done and grabbed a lifeline as the ball broke to Keelan Molloy after Johnston had initially been crowded out and the Dunlop man found the net.
Suddenly, they had all the momentum despite Carlow managing to get the gap back out to three, but there was late drama as Antrim won a free 35 metres out with five minutes of added time played. Walsh stood over it and his sweet strike flew low into the net with the last act of the game to salvage a draw.
"We looked at the last 12 minutes (of the first half) actually, and we lost a goal and four or five points," Fitzgerald reflected.
"But that's happening to us in every game. There's a patch. If you look at the Dublin game, we lost the last seven or eight minutes by, I think, seven or eight points. Against Offaly, we lost the last seven or eight minutes of the first half by seven or eight points. Against Waterford, same thing. We can't afford to be doing that.
"Carlow are a decent team. They've got good results. They've drawn with Offaly, they beat Walford. We knew we were up against it down here. We're not really good travellers on the road. But today we showed a bit of difference. We started training these guys on December 7, so we're not even three months in the job. I'm just delighted with the fight they showed today."
CARLOW: B Tracey: P O’Shea, D Wall, P Doyle; F Fitzpatrick (0-2), K McDonald, J McCullagh; E Kealy, C Whelan (0-2); J Nolan (0-1), M Kavanagh (0-7, 1 65, 5fs), J Doyle; C Kehoe (0-1), C Nolan (1-4 0-1sl), J Doyle (0-3).
Subs: P Boland for J Nolan (53), T Joyce (0-1) for J Doyle (59), D Murphy for Kehoe (63).
ANTRIM: R Elliott, E McFerran (0-1), P Burke, S Rooney; J Maskey, E Campbell (0-2), C Bohill (0-1); N O’Connor, G Walsh (1-0 free); R McCambridge (0-1), K Molloy (1-1), N Elliott (0-1); E O’Neill, J McNaughton (0-8 6fs), C Johnston (0-2).
Subs: C McKeown (0-1) for O’Neill (31), J McLaughlin for McCambridge (65).
REFEREE: C Mooney (Dublin).
