02 April 2012
Second minor squad qualify for Ulster League decider
The Antrim Minor Hurlers have been competing on two fronts with a
mainly U17 development team in the Ulster Minor Hurling League and a more experienced team competing in the Leinster Minor Hurling League.
A comprehensive victory over Donegal in Letterkenny on Saturday saw Antrim through to the UMHL final to be played on the 14th April.
The Leinster league was contested in two groups with Antrim topping
their group with wins over Meath, a great display against Laois and a
hard fought victory over Carlow to set up a final meeting with
Westmeath on Sunday.
This lead to the Leinster Minor League Final being contested by an
Antrim team, taking place in Down as part of a double header as
Westmeath seniors played Down in a division 2A encounter at Pairc
Esler Newry.
The Antrim team had been without the St Mary’s contingent as they
pursued All Ireland Colleges glory for their school but most were
available for selection on Sunday. With a changed line-up taking the
field against Westmeath Antrim’s performance was understandably a
little disjointed. Westmeath were a physically strong team and the
game was evenly contested throughout with Antrim always maintaining a lead but never being able to put Westmeath away.
In the fist half Antrim earned 2 penalty’s from direct running at the
Westmeath defence with these being blazed over the bar. Mick Bradley kept the scoreboard ticking over for the Antrim team with good scores coming from Gary Lennon and John McGoldrick while some poor finishing from Westmeath left Antrim 5 up at half time.
Westmeath’s midfield got on top from the start of the second half with
their full forward line giving the Antrim rearguard plenty of trouble
with the excellent No.13 Niall O’Brien causing problems throughout the game. The introduction of Ciaran Johnston steadied the Antrim ship and with better service to the forward line the game turned in Antrim’s favour with a well taken goal from Conor Burke. Antrim finished winners on a scoreline of 2.15 to 2.13 with John McGoldrick lifting the shield for this talented Minor team with a lot more expected from them in the future.
