22 June 2011
Antrim’s Neil McManus believes that his team are in for a tough assignment this Saturday against regular foes Carlow, but he believes this is time of the year when you want hard championship games coming thick and fast.
“Last year in the league we beat Carlow by a point and we struggled to get them past them in the qualifiers, this year it has so far been the same story. We beat them by a point in the league and we now face them again in the qualifier in Casement. We are expecting another hard battle and it is one we think we can win.
“We know that Carlow will be coming with a ‘nothing to lose’ attitude so they will be giving their all. We have to match that attitude if we are to win the game. We are all aware of that and as the matches increase in frequency I think we are increasing our own pace and intensity. It is great to have this run of games at home now, last week V Westmeath, this Saturday and then the Ulster final to come. This is the time of the year when we want to be playing games, it is the business end of the season and I hope we have a few more games left yet.”
Asked about the tendency to ‘switch off’ for parts of games Neil is refreshingly frank. “It is true that in recent games there have been patches when we have drifted out of matches. That is something we know we have to address and we are working on it. To beat Carlow and the other teams that are still in the Championship requires 70 minutes of hurling, that is what we are looking to deliver on Saturday.
“I hope there is a big support there for the game, with the footballers playing too it is a big day for the county.”
