Leinster Senior Hurling Championship; Galway v Antrim
(Pearse Stadium, Saturday,2.30pm, live on GAA+)

NO matter how you look at it, Antrim’s future in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship will not be decided on Saturday in Galway, but the Saffrons will still be eager to find some form ahead of their make-or-break trip to Offaly the following weekend.

To date, Davy Fitzgerald’s side has lost all three outings, same as the Faithful, but an inferior scoring difference means they are bottom of the pile.

Later on Saturday, Offaly travel to Wexford who are on two points and in desperate need of a win to give themselves a chance of making third spot and a place in the All-Ireland series, but are still not safe from the relegation zone either.

That doesn’t mean this is simply a free hit for Antrim in Pearse Stadium as putting something on the board will likely open up some different scenarios for survival, but to do so, they must improve and greatly from what was a disappointing display against Dublin.

The injuries in attack have not helped of course, with Keelan Molloy and Conor Johnston dropping out of the named team and to compound matters, a late red card for James McNaughton will ensure Antrim’s top scorer is unavailable for this week’s trip to the west.

“It’s down there, number one; it’s Micheál Donoghue (back as Galway manager, number two; and James McNaughton now gone with the other four lads as well,” Fitzgerald pondered after the weekend loss to Dublin.

“With James now gone, Seaan (Elliott), Keelan (Molloy), Conor (Johnston) and ‘Coby’ (Conal Cunning) out... People may say I’m making excuses, but I’m not - that’s the truth.”

In fairness, taking such talent out of a team is always going to leave huge gaps to fill and it may come down to some of the younger faces to step in with Sean McKay and Cormac McKeown preferred off the bench at the weekend, while there are others eager to make the breakthrough.

On one hand, it’s an opportunity to get a taste of what is required against one of the top teams, but it’s also a big ask against established stars.

The Tribesmen bounced back from a slow start to the campaign against Kilkenny with two impressive victories over Offaly and Wexford.

Cathal Mannion finished with 0-17 to his name in their 10-point win over the Slaneysiders as Donoghue’s side kept in touch with the group leaders as the race for a place in the Leinster final heats up.

Last year, Galway didn’t make it out of the provincial championship and a similar fate this year is unthinkable along the banks of the Corrib.

They will go a long way to secure at least third with a win this weekend and with scoring difference still a potential factor in where they finish, expect a highly-motivated Galway team with the intention of putting up a big score.

Last year, they ultimately won by 14 in Belfast, but only got on top after a red card for Ryan McGarry, while the year before, 19 points was the margin in Salthill.

Antrim’s objective must be to keep this one as close as they can for an extended period and do so by bringing intensity, which was missing against Dublin, while staying the course regardless of what way it is going, as every point could well count by the end of the month.

“If you look at the beatings Kilkenny and Dublin gave them last year, have we brought those down? We have,” Fitzgerald outlined.

“That was probably the worst we could have got beaten today (against Dublin) and the same with Kilkenny when we got beaten by 18 out of stupidity.
“I definitely think we are improving, but there is a lot of stuff that has to go for us. They kept trying to the very end and that’s important.”

GALWAY: Darach Fahy; Joshua Ryan, Fintan Burke, Darren Morrissey; Sean Linnane, Gavin Lee, TJ Brennan; Cianan Fahy, Ronan Glennon; Tom Monaghan, Cathal Mannion, Conor Cooney; Conor Whelan, Brian Concannon, Anthony Burns.

Subs: Eanna Murphy, Jack Grealish, Cillian Whelan, Shane Cooney, Michael Garvey, Dan Loftus, Evan Niland, John Cooney, Jason Flynn, Donal O'Shea, Kevin Cooney.

ANTRIM: Ryan Elliott; Stephen Rooney, Niall O'Connor, Paddy Burke; Joe Maskey, Conor Boyd, Conall Bohill; Gerard Walsh, Eoghan Campbell; Ryan McCambridge, Nigel Elliott, Scott Walsh; Cormac McKeown, Eoin O'Neill, Joseph McLaughlin.

Subs: Ruairi McCormick, Eoin McFerran, Declan McCloskey, Sean McKay, Ryan McGarry, Rory McCloksey, Paul Boyle, Aodhan McGarry, Fred McCurry, Niall McGarrll, Jack McCloskey.