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Irish Times
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Offaly beat Antrim to keep spot in Leinster next season
Leinster SHC: Offaly 3-15 Antrim 1-16 Offaly lived very dangerously before securing their status in the Leinster SHC with a nerve-racking win over a gutted Antrim at O'Connor Park on Sunday afternoon. A five-point winning margin is a slim one in hurling but this game was a lot tighter than this suggests as Offaly lost their way in the second half and Antrim almost pulled off a sensational against-the-odds win. With relegation at stake for the losers, this was a huge, high stakes game and it was frantic stuff, played at a huge intensity. Antrim will wonder what would have happened if corner back Niall O'Connor had not been red carded in the sixth minute after Charlie Mitchell went to ground. Playing with a strong wind to their backs in the first half, that sending off was a devastating blow for Antrim and it was probably the losing of the game. READ MORE While the swirling wind made things difficult, it was clearly favouring Antrim in the first half when they really needed to be a few points up. Instead they found themselves trailing 2-9 to 0-11 at half-time and you would have put your house on Offaly coasting home. Offaly made the perfect start with a great first-minute goal from Brian Duignan and were 1-1 to 0-2 up when O'Connor was sent off. It was all squad at 0-4 to 1-1 when Dan Ravenhill got Offaly's second goal from a penalty in the 13th minute, awarded for a foul on the brilliant Mitchell. Antrim dug in and two James McNaughton frees cut the deficit to a point but three in a row put Offaly 2-4 to 0-6 ahead after 22 minutes. Antrim fought back well with four on the bounce, three of them from play, to level it up at 0-10 to 2-4 after 29 minutes and were in a position to push on. Offaly's Cathal King tackles Antrim's Eoghan Campbell. Photograph: Leah Scholes/Inpho Offaly, however, were strong in the first half, controlling a lot of the play and finished positively as Mitchell floated over two great points for that very satisfying four point half time lead. Offaly were 2-13 to 0-13 up midway through the second half and Antrim showed fantastic character to bring it down to the fire. Three McNaughton frees cut it to a goal, Mitchell put four in it again and then McNaughton brought the visiting crowd to their feet with a 64th-minute goal. All the momentum was with Antrim, but Offaly's response in the face of adversity was encouraging. Stephen Rooney denied Duignan a goal before Killian Sampson rattled the Antrim net in the 66th minute. Duignan converted a free to put Offaly 3-15 to 1-16 up with three minutes left plus two minutes of injury time. That proved to be the winning margin as Offaly managed to defend intense late pressure from Antrim to take the win. OFFALY: M Troy; C Burke, B Conneely, C King, R Ravenhill, D Shirley (0-2), S Bourke; K Sampson (1-0), C Spain; D Bourke (0-1), B Duignan (1-7, 7f), O Kelly; D Ravenhill (1-2, 1-0 pen), C Mitchell (0-3), J Sampson. Subs: J Clancy for D Ravenhill (h-t), E Cahill for Jason Sampson (63 mins). ANTRIM: R Elliot; C Boyd, P Burke (0-1), N O'Connor; C Bohill, J Maskey, S Rooney; G Walsh (0-2), N Elliot (0-1); S Walsh (0-1), E Campbell, R McCambridge (0-1); E O'Neill, J McNaughton (1-8 8f), K Molloy (0-2). Subs: R McCloskey for McCambridge (54 mins). Referee: M Kennedy (Tipperary).
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Offaly condemn 14-man Antrim to Leinster SHC relegation
Antrim lost Niall O'Connor to an early red card as their three-year stint in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship was ended with a 3-15 to 1-16 defeat by Offaly in Tullamore. Brian Duignan (1-7), Dan Ravenhill (1-2) and Killian Sampson (1-0) scored Offaly's goals to help the Faithful County retain their top-flight championship status for 2026 while condemning Davy Fitzgerald's side to the Joe McDonagh Cup. Knowing that only victory would keep his team at hurling's top table, Fitzgerald received a pre-match boost when he was able to reinstate James McNaughton and Keelan Molloy to the starting line-up after suspension and injury. However, having already conceded a second-minute goal from Offaly marksman Brian Duignan, the Ulster county's hopes were further hit when O'Connor was shown a straight red card after just seven minutes at O'Connor Park. O'Connor was sent off by referee Michael Kennedy, who adjudged that the corner-back had stamped on Offaly forward Charlie Mitchell after consulting with his empires. It was the third game in a row in which Antrim were reduced to 14 men following Declan McCloskey and McNaughton's dismissals in defeats by Dublin and Galway respectively. To Antrim's credit, they worked hard to stay in touch after a disastrous start, but Offaly were able to move three clear through Dan Ravenhill's penalty after Mitchell went down in the square under Conal Bohill's challenge. Antrim, who had the wind advantage in the first half, again showed resilience and levelled the score at 2-4 to 0-10 with four unanswered points, which included two from the returning Molloy. Offaly, however, finished the half strongly with five of the last six scores to establish a 2-9 to 0-11 cushion at the break. With Offaly initially unable to capitalise on their wind or numerical advantage, the second half was a low-scoring arm wrestle with the hosts maintaining their four-point lead before McNaughton - who finished with 1-8 - gave Antrim renewed hope with a brilliant goal. McNaughton's 65th-minute strike brought Antrim back to within one, but after Stephen Rooney immediately denied Duignan with a superb goal-saving block, Sampson's green flag three minutes from time sent Offaly on their way to victory. Antrim have been the escape artists in Leinster over the past few years, earning last-round wins over Westmeath and Carlow in 2023 and 2024 to stay up, but they drop out of the top tier after losing all five of their matches in Fitzgerald's first year at the helm. Offaly: Mark Troy; Ben Conneely, Ciaran Burke, Sam Bourke; Ross Ravenhill, Donal Shirley (0-2), Jason Sampson; Cathal King, Colin Spain; Killian Sampson (1-0), Daniel Bourke (0-2), Oisin Kelly; Dan Ravenhill (1-2), Charlie Mitchell (0-3), Brian Duignan (1-7, 7f) Subs: Jack Clancy for D Ravenhill '38, Eoghan Cahill for J Sampson '64. Antrim: Ryan Elliott; Stephen Rooney, Paddy Burke (0-1), Niall O'Connor; Conall Bohill, Joe Maskey, Conor Boyd; Gerard Walsh (0-2), Eoghan Campbell; Ryan McCambridge (0-1), Nigel Elliott (0-1), Scott Walsh (0-1); James McNaughton (1-8, 8f), Eoin O'Neill, Keelan Molloy (0-2). Subs: Cormac McKeown for McCambridge '55. Referee: Michael Kennedy (Tipperary)
Irish Times
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Dublin overpower Antrim to continue Leinster charge
Leinster SHC: Antrim 0-19 Dublin 3-25 Dublin cantered to a third-straight win in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship as they took care of business against Antrim at a sunny Corrigan Park on Saturday. Niall Ó Ceallacháin's men took a grip early and didn't let go as they were virtually out of sight by the break as wind-assisted they opened a 12-point gap and extended that by three before the final whistle. Antrim were without the services of Keelan Molloy and Conor Johnston to add to their injury woes in attack and that told as there was a blunt edge to what they did as they just couldn't get anything going for a sustained period and there was a sense of inevitability about this game from early on. Centre backs Chris Crummey and Conor Boyd swapped early scores before points from Sean Currie and John Heatherton gave the Dubs a lead they would hold until the end. READ MORE James McNaughton pointed a free in reply, but the Dubs rattled off the next three through Currie and Cian O'Sullivan. A McNaughton free would prove to be Antrim's last score for 14 minutes, by which time the Dubs had rattled off 2-3, the first of those goals coming as goalkeeper Eddie Gibbons picked out O'Sullivan to fetch and bury. The second goal was not disimmilar as another long ball was grabbed by Ronan Hayed, who gave Ryan Elliott no chance. Dublin's Fergal Whitely. Photograph: John McVitty/Inpho Antrim rallied briefly with two McNaughton frees after Ryan McCambridge ended their dry spell, but they couldn't sustain it with Currie extending his first-half tally to eight and O'Sullivan knocking over another score with a sole Joseph McLaughlin point in response as Dublin headed into the break with a 2-14 to 0-7 advantage, which could have been greater but for a fine save by Elliott on Paddy Doyle. A hat-trick of McNaughton points straight after the restart gave the hosts some hope, but Dublin replied through Brian Hayes and O'Sullivan. After McNaughton and Currie swapped frees, Crummey landed a beauty from deep and then former Dublin footballer Conor McHugh thumped over after another McNaughton free. It was clear the Dubs were managing their lead as Antrim just didn't have enough support for McNaughton in attack, as the goal they required to get back into contention wasn't looking likely. The gap was at 11 points going into the final quarter but that was pushed out thanks to Currie and Crummey before Dublin grabbed a third goal in the 64th minute as substitute Fergal Whitely showed fantastic control to get away and blast home. It would go from bad to worse for Antrim with McNaughton shown a straight red late on for lashing out on McHugh as Dublin coasted home to maintain their perfect start to the campaign. ANTRIM: R Elliott; S Rooney, N O'Connor, P Burke; J Maskey, C Boyd (0-1), C Bohill; E Campbell (0-1), G Walsh (0-1f); J McLaughlin (0-2 1f), R McCambridge (0-2), S Walsh; E O'Neill, J McNaughton (0-10, 8f, 1′65), N Elliott (0-1). Subs: S McKay for S Walsh (HT), C McKeown (0-1) for E O'Neill (51 mins). DUBLIN: E Gibbons; J Bellew, P Smyth, C McHugh (0-1); P Doyle (0-1), C Crummey (0-3), A Dunphy; C Burke (0-1), C Donohue; B Hayes (0-1), C O'Sullivan (1-3), D Power; S Currie (0-12, 7f, 2′65), J Hetherton (0-1), R Hayes (1-0). Subs: P Dunleavy for A Dunphy (26 mins), D Burke for J Hetherton (49), C Currie (0-1) for C Burke (53), F Whitely (1-1) for R Hayes (59), J Madden for C Crummey (66). Referee: L Gordon (Galway).
The Irish Sun
28-04-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Kilkenny survive first-half scare to see off brave Antrim challenge in Leinster hurling championship battle
KILKENNY pulled away in the final 20 minutes of this Leinster SHC round 2 clash to score a victory over Antrim at Corrigan Park. Derek Lyng's men trailed by one at the break and the gap could have been more, but they were in no mood to contemplate a shock as they out-scored the hosts by 2-13 to 0-1 from the 48th minute. 1 James McNaughton of Antrim in action against Cian Kenny of Kilkenny during the Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Credit: Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile Eoin Cody top-scored for the Cats as he finished with 1-13 as his free-taking and ability to lead the charge from play helped get his side right on top, while Martin Keoghan's goal in the 51st minute was a blow Antrim never recovered from. Lyng, however, later conceded that the hosts were the better team at times. He said: 'We got back into it in the second half and found our groove a little bit more. We got the result we needed and we move on to the next game. 'We got a good lead at the start and just sat back. Read More on GAA '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.' Kilkenny flew out of the traps and were 0-8 to 0-1 ahead after 11 minutes before Antrim settled to rattle off four of their own and get level, with good work from Conor Johnston putting James McNaughton in for a goal. The Loughgiel man almost had a second three minutes later, only to be denied by the post. But three Cody scores seemed to settle Kilkenny. Most read in Sport Two was the margin when Antrim got a second goal in the 33rd minute as Keelan Molloy did well to whip home under pressure and the Saffrons took a 2-8 to 0-13 lead into the break. Kilkenny upped the pace in the second period with Cody frees and a score from Harry Shine putting them two up, only for McNaughton to point a free and Nigel Elliott seeing a rasping drive tipped over by Cats keeper Eoin Murphy. RTE pundit Peter Canavan angers fans after leaving notable county out of his 'big four' All-Ireland contenders Then the Marble County completely took over with Billy Ryan and Cian Kenny landing points to ensure the starting front eight were on the board. From the restart in the 51st minute, 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 and Kilkenny scored 1-12 without reply as Mikey Butler and Tommy Walsh added their names to the board. McNaughton finally ended a barren 25 minutes for Antrim in added time, but Kilkenny finished with a flourish as Billy Drennan pointed. And with the last act of the game, Cody got a goal from a free to put the cap on a fine second-half display. A disappointed Antrim boss Davy Fitzgerald said: 'That wasn't an 18-point defeat. 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. 'They weren't even good goals. The first was a mistake and the second we switched off. '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.' Next up, Kilkenny face Offaly at Nowlan Park on May 10, while Antrim are also back at home on the same day when they welcome Dublin to Corrigan Park. KILKENNY : E Murphy; M Butler 0-1, H Lawlor, T Walsh 0-1; M Carey, R Reid, P Deegan 0-1; 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 mins, 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. 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, 9f, C Johnston. Subs : C McKeown for C Johnston h-t, S McKay for R McCambridge 52 mins, J McLaughlin for S Walsh 55, E O'Neill for E Campbell 69, A McGarry for G Walsh 69. REFEREE : S Hynes (Galway).
