Fitzgerald 'proud' as 14-man Antrim exit Leinster
Davy Fitzgerald said he was "extremely proud" of his Antrim players after they suffered a 3-15 to 1-16 loss to Offaly in Sunday's Leinster Hurling relegation shootout in Tullamore.
Having lost Niall O'Connor to a straight red card inside the opening 10 minutes, Antrim refused to wilt and retained hopes of snatching a comeback victory when James McNaughton's 65th-minute goal brought them back to within a point.
But while Offaly's third goal ensured a win for Johnny Kelly's side, Fitzgerald was buoyed by what he saw from Antrim.
"We were definitely the better team in the second half," Fitzgerald told GAA+.
"Playing against that wind, we ran the ball well, worked the ball well. We probably had two goal chances that we needed to take.
"Offaly have improved immensely and you have to give them credit, their fight and work is good."
Fitzgerald also said he did not blame referee Michael Kennedy for dismissing O'Connor for what appeared to be a stamp on Offaly's Charlie Mitchell.
"Anyone that knows Niall O'Connor knows he's not a dirty player," added the former Clare and Waterford boss.
"It might have looked bad, I can tell you he's not a dirty player, and he said to me afterwards, 'honestly, I didn't mean to stamp' and I said, 'fair enough, it looks how it looks'. I don't blame the referee for that exact thing."
After three seasons in the Leinster Championship, Antrim will return to the Joe McDonagh Cup - a competition they won in 2020 and 2022 - for the 2026 campaign.
But Fitzgerald, who joined Antrim on a two-year term before this season, does not doubt his squad's ability to bounce straight back.
"There will be no fear in them boys no matter what the story is," said Fitzgerald, who led Clare to the 2013 All-Ireland title.
"We held ourselves in the league, we wanted to hold on, very unlucky that we didn't.
He added: "They have the potential to come right back up again, but they know what they need to do, we've had a good chat about that recently.
"Antrim will bounce back. They showed massive resilience today and that's very important."
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