Joe McDonagh Cup
Antrim 3-22 Offaly 2-24
A GOAL from Conor Johnston four minutes into stoppage time ultimately proved the winner for Antrim against Offaly in a thrilling Joe McDonagh Cup opener at Corrigan Park on Saturday.
The St John's man showed great composure to finish when played in for his second goal of the afternoon to ultimately deny Michael Fennelly's charges who looked to have pulled off a great escape when turning a five-point deficit into a one-point lead in stoppage time despite being down to 14 men.
The Faithful showed plenty of resilience on the day as each time it seemed Antrim were about to strike for home, they found scores to stay in touch and when Eoghan Cahill knocked over his 13th point of the day from a free after Paddy Clancy's goal had levelled, the Saffrons found the winner with Johnston crashing home and while Cahill had a chance to snatch it back for Offaly, his free from around 30 metres flew over.
It was a breathtaking end to the game and typical of the Joe McDonagh Cup that has a habit of producing classic battles, but for Antrim manager Darren Gleeson, there was relief that his side had come out the right side of a close game after near misses in the League.
"There was a bit of character," he said in the aftermath.
"It was disappointing that when we scored, we gave away the next score so didn't have the benefit of that score for very long.
"We will have to look at how we set up straight after we score as it looks like we are switching off in those situations.
"Offaly went down to 14-men and it was silly mistakes for the two goals: a ball that was going out miscontrolled and ended up in the middle of the goals; the second one a crossfield ball that was never on and we let them back into the game.
"We are going to have to learn how to manage out these games a bit better as we are lucky that last (Cahill) free flew over the bar."
Conal Cunning is tracked by Offaly's Joey Keenaghan
Playing with the aid of a strong breeze, Antrim were quicker out of the traps with Conal Cunning landing a pair of frees and Paddy Burke one from play.
The sides would trade a pair of scores with Offaly's Eoghan Cahill landing a beauty of a sideline before the Faithful began to get on top and were level with Brian Duignan, Jason Sampson and David Nally all on target.
After another exchange of scores, another three-in-a-row from Offaly appeared to give them a good place heading towards the break but it could have been better had Ryan Elliott not saved brilliantly from Sampson.
However, when the goal came it arrived at the other end with Ciaran Clarke finding Connor McCann on the left of goal to crack home and while Adrian Cleary hit back with a score at the other end, Keelan Molloy drilled one over for the hosts to leave the sides level at the break, 1-8 to 0-11.
The Saffrons made a much better start to the second period with seven of the first 10 points to move five clear on 53 minutes as Offaly were reduced to 14 after Jack Screeney had picked up two yellows after the break.
A pair of David Nally points brought the visitors to within striking distance, but after Ciaran Clarke pointed, Johnston was in for the first of his goals when wipping to the net.
Offaly hit straight back as a blocked shot spun and Ryan Elliott couldn't gather with Nally profiting to finish to the net.
Antrim still managed to seemingly keep the visitors at arm's length with the gap five with two minutes of normal time remaining, but Offaly would not go away and after Luke O'Connor and Cahill pointed, Joey Keenaghan's initial drop-shot for goal in stoppage time flew at Clancy who bundled home.
Cahill's free nudged Offaly ahead, but Antrim found the response they needed with Joe Maskey nudging Gerard Walsh's long delivery down to Eoghan Campbell and he popped inside to Johnston to race in and bury the chance.
Ciaran Clarke goes on the run
Offaly did have that late chance, but it was a big ask for Cahill to find the net with everyone camped in front of the goal as the Saffrons got their McDonagh campaign off to a winning start.
With Down's 1-19 to 0-18 win against Kerry in Tralee, it sets up next Sunday's game in Ballycran between the Ulster rivals nicely.
"It was drama, but that's Championship hurling - it would have been a sickener to come out of here beat," added Gleeson.
"We didn't play our best. Offaly were well set up and learnt a lot from the last day. They came with a very good game plan and we struggled with it for a long time.
"We're happy to come away with two points. It's a crazy competition as your home wins are massive and with Down getting a scalp in Kerry - that's massive. If Offaly had done that here, it would have turned the whole competition upside down. It was a poor performance but a morale-boosting victory for us."
ANTRIM: R Elliott; R McGarry (0-1), G Walsh, S Rooney; P Burke (0-2), E Campbell, S Walsh; J Maskey, K Molloy (0-1); S Elliott (0-1), D Nugent, C McCann (1-1); C Cunning (0-10, 7 frees, 1 65), C Clarke (0-3), C Johnston (2-2).
Subs: J McNaughton (0-1) for K Molloy (HT), P Duffin for S Rooney (57), M Donnelly for S Walsh (62), D McKernan for S Elliott (64), C Bohill for D Nugent (69)
OFFALY: S Corcoran; J Keenaghan, D King, P Cantwell; E Parlon, B Conneely, E Kelly (0-1); J Screeney, L Fox (0-1); A Cleary (0-2), E Cahill (0-14, 11 frees, 1 sideline, 1 65), B Duignan (0-1); S Cleary, J Sampson (0-1), D Nally (1-3).
Subs: L O'Connor (0-1) for S Cleary (48), J Murphy for L Fox (52), K Sampson for B Duignan (54), C Burke for E Parlon (63), P Clancy (1-0) for A Cleary (68)
REFEREE: Chris Mooney (Dublin)
