05 September 2012
The Antrim U14 team travelled to the Tony Forrestal Competition in Waterford on Friday 31 st August
to take on Clare and Galway in a return to the First Division for the first time in several years. Eleven
clubs were represented as 23 players were selected for the Development Squad. After the team had
their dinner on Friday night, multiple All-Ireland winner and All-Star Michael Rice of Kilkenny spoke
to the players to talk to the boys about the importance of preparation, concentration and how the
Kilkenny teams of the last decade have based their success on hard work.
After a short journey to St Saviours, Ballybeg in Waterford City the boys prepared to play Clare on
a day that the breeze was going to ruin all games and make it very hard to allow the games to flow.
Antrim had started slowly and found themselves 1-2 to no score down while playing with a strong
breeze. Antrim did reply to a goal from Conor Dallas to steady the nerves however a series of missed
frees from various players failed to narrow the gap for Antrim. Clare went further ahead before
Antrim scored another goal from CJ McKenna to make the game 2-6 to 2-0 in favour of Clare. Antrim
did hurl a lot better against the breeze and played a smarter simpler game of hurling by trying to
move the ball quicker and to the feet of their forwards. Some very harsh referring which left the
parents of Antrim player’s parents in disbelief seemed to galvanise the Antrim team with the effort
and work rate rising in the second half. Antrim added a third goal from Michael McGreevy to end the
game Clare 3-9 Antrim 3-0.
Before Antrim’s second game Galway defeated Clare by 9 points to make the final game very
important for both teams. Antrim were left with a 3 and a half hour gap between games compared
to Galway’s hour by luck of the draw. However after Galway went a point up, Geoffrey Og Laverty’s
persistence led to himself pulling the ball across the Galway goal line followed by a CJ MCKenna
point to go into an early lead. This was turning out to be a tough battle and Antrim were fighting
hard however several missed frees were going to cause problems. Galway’s class was beginning to
show as they went ahead at the break 1-6- to 1-1. Against the breeze in the second half Antrim again
fought hard and played better than they did with the aid of the huge breeze. Points from Diarmuid
McShane and Conal Cunning kept Antrim hopes up. With Antrim having a large squad down it was
important that all players got a run out and management ensured all players saw action. Antrim
remained spirited and Michael McGreevy drove a great shot to the net after some great interchange
play from Cunning and McShane. As the Antrim team got to the grips with the late changes, Galway
tagged over several late points to win a good match on a scoreline of 2-12 to 2-3.
Overall this was a learning experience for Antrim and the opportunity to regularly play Division
1 competitions will benefit the players as Antrim still could have performed better and the
players acknowledge that they will learn from this. Over the course of the weekend management
and Michael Rice aimed to stress how your improving your approach to games can benefit on
performances and confidence and hopefully this will be taken on board.
Throughout the year there was around 50 players looked at via various county trials and games as
well as management taking in club games. At various stages of the year management spoke to club
mentors to discuss players that were on the panel and took recommendations of players in form as
well as attending games and asking for players details to invite to trial. Players were selected based
on their ability, their attitude and behaviour as it was felt that those who were represented Antrim
would do so in the correct manner. Of those players that were looked at 5 players voluntarily left
the panel with three of those explained and two unexplained. Management are satisfied that they
made every effort to select the best players possible and received many calls from parents, coaches
and clubs to explain the selection of squads throughout the year and welcome that there was
disappointment that players were not selected and hopefully these disappointments can be used to
spur players forward and that not making an U14 squad will not be the end of a County career!
Games were held against Kilkenny at Sarsfields in June where after a 50 minute game we were
defeated by 10 points before an additional third period where Antrim used all 31 players in
attendance. We took part in a Leinster blitz in Portlaoise in July and defeated Laois and Wexford
before again falling to Kilkenny. At an Ulster blitz in August in Dunloy were Antrim played 6 games
including being defeated by Down before avenging that defeat later in the day. A game v Tipperary
was scheduled in August and unfortunately due to a club away trip and player holiday/injury it was
discovered that we only had 15 players to travel and decided to cancel the game.
The U14 management welcome pledges from County Chairman Jim Murray and County Coaching
Officer Tony McCollum to have a review of the Development Squad process and how to bring Antrim
hurling forward together and will fully engage in this process. While it is nice to be told by our
Southern counterparts it is nice to see Antrim competing at this level and by no means patronising it
is time that we stopped telling our players that they may only compete against the likes of Galway,
Clare, Tipperary. It is time to build the process to allow Antrim players to succeed.
Finally, the Management would like to thank clubs for allowing us to use their facilities throughout
the year, particularly Cloughmills, St Comgalls and especially All Saints Ballymena. We thank the
various clubs that supported the Development Squads but especially the parents and players who
committed to the Squads, attended trainings and tournaments. It is at this age that we must make
our players proud to wear the Saffron jersey
Les Meas
Antrim U14 Management 2012