Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, Round Two
Antrim 2-12 Kilkenny 2-30
THE 18-point margin at the finish will have left a lot of people unsurprised, but Kilkenny had to work for their victory at Corrigan Park on Sunday as they eventually burst the Antrim dam in the final quarter.
At half-time, the Saffrons were one up and it could have been more but for the butt of a goalpost and a few missed frees. This all came after the Cats threatened a long afternoon when racing into an early seven-point lead, when they looked in a mood to put any notions of a shock to bed before Antrim woke up.
But wake up Davy Fitzgerald's men did with James McNaughton steadying from frees and a pair of sublime scores through Keelan Molloy and Conall Bohill raising hopes. McNaughton and Molloy found the net before the break but they seemed to poke the bear as Kilkenny came out at their ravenous best in the second half, with Eoin Cody leading the charge.
The Ballyhale Shamrocks man finished with 1-13, including his side's last five points of the opening period when their flying start hit the skids.
Antrim hit two goals, but it could have been five or perhaps even six as direct running opened gaps, yet when the green flag was raised at the other end for the first time after 51 minutes as Martin Keoghan punished a mistake, it was part of a run that saw Kilkenny out-score the hosts by 2-13 to 0-1.
Wides were aplenty for both teams on the day, with the Cats edging this particular unwanted stat by 13 to 12, but Antrim needed to take everything going if they were to spring a shock and it was the passing up of opportunities, whilst coughing up two very soft goals, which irked manager Davy Fitzgerald.
"That wasn't an 18-point defeat," the Clare native lamented.
"We had six goal opportunities but that (margin) was the last 15 minutes, conceding most of that. For 45-48 minutes, we showed what we can do.
"They got a seven-point lead (early) but from then on we were good, but after we made the mistake that led to their goal, we lost confidence and an issue we need to look at . They weren't even good goals. The first was a mistake and the second, we switched off. "We gave them two (goals) and we have seven goal opportunities - that's the facts of the game.
"When we penetrated through the middle, we looked good and as good as I've seen us for 45 minutes. Our tackling was good, shape was good, everything was good, but just when that (first) goal went in, the buzz went out of us."
Keelan Molloy beats Eoin Murphy for Antrim's second goal
Kilkenny flew out of the traps and seemed intent in putting this game away early as Stephen Donnelly pointed seconds in and the scores flowed as Martin Keoghan, John Donnelly, Fionán Mackessy (free) and Paddy Deegan landed before James McNaughton got Antrim on the board from a free.
The Cats were destroying the Antrim restarts with the hosts unable to get on the ball despite playing with the wind in the opening period and three further scores from Kilkenny had them 0-8 to 0-1 up after 11 minutes with the threat of a rout on the cards.
However, Antrim found their feet as after McNaughton landed a free, Keelan Molloy pointed out on the right, followed by a monster effort by Conall Bohill.
Just three separated them when the Saffrons got their first goal when Conor Johnston did brilliantly to get on the ball in the left corner, play in McNation who cracked home from the angle to level.
The Loughgiel man almost had a second goal three minutes later, only to be denied by the post, but three Eoin Cody scores seemed to settle Kilkenny once again.
McNaughton and Cody traded scores but then Antrim got a second goal in the 34th minute as Keelan Molloy got onto a long delivery and under pressure, whipped home as the hosts would ultimately take a 2-8 to 0-13 lead into the break.
The free-takers continued to trade in the second period with Cody's three to McNaughton's one before substitute Harry Shine landed for the visitors who had clearly upped the ante after the break and their half-back line in particular was making Antrim's attacks a misery.
However, Antrim still carried a threat as Nigel Elliott was sent through but perhaps mindful of being hooked, overcooked a pass to Cormac McKeown and after McNaughton pulled one back from a free, Elliott was again through with the goal opening up but Eoin Murphy tipped the shot over as the sides were level - not the first time the Glenmore man has made a magical save.
But Kilkenny completely took over after with Billy Ryan and Cian Kenny landing to ensure the starting front eight were on the board and from the restart in the 51st minute, Martin Keoghan overturned Paddy Burke and galloped through for the goal, which put his side 1-21 to 2-11 ahead.
That was the game-breaker as Antrim's resistance was broken as Kilkenny ultimately went 1-12 without reply as Mikey Butler and Tommy Walsh added their names to the board.
Paddy Burke tests the strength of Mossy Keoghan's jersey 
McNaughton finally ended a barren 25 minutes for Antrim in added time, but Kilkenny finished with a flourish as Nilly Drennan pointed and with the last act of the game, Eoin Cody went for and got the goal from a free to put the cap on a fine second-half display and victory for the Cats.
"For spells of the game, they were the better team," Kilkenny manager Lyng said of the hosts.
"We got back into it in the second half and found our groove a little bit more and that was the most important thing. We got the result we needed and we move on to the next game.
"They caused us problems in the first half. We were getting the ball but just weren't doing the basics well. Antrim were that bit sharper at that stage.
"We got a good lead at the start and just sat back. Antrim were the better team for the next 20 minutes and that's something we will be working on for the next couple of weeks as it won't be good enough as we go along. It's back to training now this week and heads down again."
ANTRIM: R Elliott; S Rooney, N O'Connor, P Burke; C Boyd, J Maskey, C Bohill (0-1); E Campbell, G Walsh; K Molloy (1-1), N Elliott (0-1), S Walsh; R McCambridge, J McNaughton (1-9, 0-9f), C Johnston.
Subs: C McKeown for C Johnston (HT), S McKay for R McCambridge (52), J McLaughlin for S Walsh (55), E O'Neill for E Campbell (69), A McGarry for G Walsh (69).
KILKENNY: E Murphy; M Butler (0-1), H Lawlor, T Walsh (0-1); M Carey, R Reid, P Deegan; C Kenny (0-2), J Molloy (0-2); F Mackessy (0-1f), J Donnelly (0-1), B Ryan (0-1); S Donnelly (0-3), M Keoghan (1-2), E Cody (1-13, 1-9f).
Subs: H Shine (0-1) for F Mackessy (40), L Hogan for S Donnelly (64), B Drennan (0-1) for J Donnelly (67), K Doyle for M Carey (67), E Lyng for C Kenny (70).
REFEREE: S Hynes (Galway)
