08 May 2014
Leinster Blitz, Wexford – 3rd May 2014
On Saturday 3rd May the Antrim u15 Hurlers had an early start heading south to participate in a blitz organised by the Leinster Council. With games scheduled against Wexford and Waterford the coaches knew this was a good opportunity to gauge how much progress had been made by the panel over recent months.
Waterford 3-1 Antrim 5-17
Our opening game was against Waterford and within a minute of the start Eoin Magee registered the first score of the game with a point from play, and within three minutes David Kilgore scored a fine goal to stretch the lead further. Antrim were well in control during this opening period and with fifteen minutes gone further points were added by Ruairi Crummey, Daire Matthews and Conor Boyd – with a solitary response from Waterford through a pointed free.
Any forays into the Antrim half were quickly dealt with by strong defending from Dubhaltach Magee-Baker, Shane O’Connor and Liam Gillan, while Philip Kennedy easily dealt with any threat to the Antrim goal.
Antrim’s dominance continued and with five minutes remaining in the half Corey Blair found the net with a deft flick and within a minute David Kilgore had added his second and Antrim’s third goal. As the half drew to a close Conor Boyd added another point from play, with Waterford responding through a goal from a 21 yard free on the stroke of half-time to leave the half-time score Waterford 1-1 Antrim 3-5.
With the second half underway, aided by the breeze, Antrim quickly got into their stride with David Kilgore rattling off a goal and two points all inside the space of three minutes – bringing his personal tally to 3-2 with only five minutes of the half gone. Antrim’s rapid fire scoring continued with three further points from play within three minutes from Daire Matthews, Tiarnan Murphy and Shane O’Connor. Antrim’s dominance continued in all sections of the pitch as the half wore on. Eoin Magee grabbed his second goal of the afternoon and Antrim’s fourth with Shane O’Connor adding to his tally with a 65.
At the back Oran Kearney, Conal McAteer and Manus Smith kept a tight control on their opponents while Micheal McGreevy and Conor Boyd run the show at mid-field. With ten minutes of the game remaining Antrim added further points through Daire Matthews and Micheal McGreevy before two rapid fire goals from Waterford, within the space of a minute, added some respectability to the score board from the Waterford perspective. Antrim closed out the game with a point from Phelim Lennon and two frees from Shane O’Connor and Conor Boyd to leave the full-time score Waterford 3-1 Antrim 5-17.
Wexford 3-4 Antrim 2-12
With confidence high following the high-scoring victory against Waterford, our second game of the afternoon was against host county Wexford. Once again, and playing against the stiff breeze, Antrim got the score board moving early with a pointed free by Eoin Magee within three minutes. However, Wexford demonstrated they would pose a much sterner challenge than Waterford in the opening game and within a minute they had responded with a goal. Antrim responded with a point from play through Micheal McGreevy while full-forward Eoin Magee drew the game level with his second point from a free. However, Wexford again took the lead with a point from play, before Eoin Magee scored Antrim’s opening goal with Corey Blair following up with a point – at this stage only ten minutes had elapsed in the game.
With the aid of the breeze Wexford were applying a lot of pressure on the Antrim defence – however Conal McAteer and Liam Gillan were defending well to prevent Wexford converting their possession into scores. Wexford did a score from play, before Eoin Magee again struck for goal, with the same player adding a well taken point very shortly afterwards. Wexford however gained control of the game in the closing ten minutes of the half, converting this pressure by scoring two goals and a point to no reply from Antrim to leave the hosts leading by one point at half-time on a score line of Wexford 3-3 Antrim 2-5.
While Antrim were playing with the aid of the breeze in the second half, the team knew they would need to increase their work rate across all sectors of the pitch to ensure they travelled back north with two victories secured. Within two minute of the restart Antrim had regained the lead with two points from Daire Matthews and Conor Boyd. With five minutes of the half gone, Eoin Magee added his fourth point with a well taken free.
The Antrim defence, well marshalled by Shane O’Conor and Dubhaltach Magee-Baker, were now firmly in control, ensuring any attacks from Wexford were quickly repelled. Antrim remained in control as the half continued, with some fantastic tackling by Dermot Carey, and further stretched their lead with a free from Eoin Magee, followed by a point from play by Conor Boyd. With five minutes remaining in the half Wexford registered their sole score of the half, with a point form a close range free. Ruairi Crummey, who had been causing significant problems for the Wexford rear-guard all afternoon, extended the Antrim lead to 4 points with an insurance score with five minutes remaining. Antrim closed out the game with a further free from Conor Boyd to ensure a five point victory on a final score line of Wexford 3-4 Antrim 2-12.
After an early start and long journey to Wexford it turned out to be a very rewarding afternoon for the squad and coaches, with two fine victories recorded over Waterford and Wexford, making the long trek home that little bit easier.
Antrim squad who travelled to Wexford:
Philip Kennedy
Manus Smith
Dubhaltach Magee-Baker
Liam Gillan
Conal McAteer
Shane O’Connor
Oran Kearney
Conor Boyd
Micheal McGreevy
Corey Blair
Daire Matthews
David Kilgore
Tiarnan Murphy
Eoin Magee
Ruairi Crummey
Paul McMullan
Marcus Donnelly
Phelim Lennon
Dermot Carey
Paddy Graffin
Conal Colgan
Conor McHugh
Liam Quinn
Ronan Fegan
