08 March 2009
Antrim hurlers promotion hopes took a knock at Casement Park on Sunday when they were held to a draw by Westmeath in their re-arranged NHL Div 2 fixture.
The Saffrons appeared to have done enough when they held a one point lead with the designated one minute injury time already up, but the visitors were awarded a late free which they duly converted to earn a share of the spoils.
In truth it was no more than Westmeath deserved for they gave as good as they got during seventy minutes of sub-standard fare which fell well short of last week’s win over Wexford.
Short a number of regulars Antrim always struggled and during the first half they fell five points behind, a scoreline which could have been much worse had it not been for a couple of sharp saves by goalkeeper Ryan McGarry.
Good displays by Brendan Herron, Karl Stewart, Ciaran McGourty and Sean Delargy helped turn things around however and Stewart and Herron picked off some good points to close the gap to 0-8 to 0-10 at the break.
Antrim started the second-half in more positive fashion and soon went ahead as Stewart sent over some excellent points from placed balls, a task made more difficult by the swirling wind.
They edged ahead and seemed to be on their way to collecting both league points when they opened a three point gap.
However they could not hold on and the visitors clawed their way back to earn their first point of the campaign and deal Antrim’s promotion hopes a bad blow.
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