National Hurling League, Division 1B: Offaly 2-26 Antrim 0-17
Davy Fitzgerald says Antrim’s boom or bust hurling must be addressed after watching his side suffer a 15-point hammering against Offaly in O’Connor Park.
Fitzgerald cut a frustrated figure after his third game as Antrim manager – especially as this lacklustre performance came on the back of last week’s Division 1B home victory over Westmeath.
The Clare native believes a pattern of inconsistency dogging Antrim has to be tackled – particularly the trend of performing in Corrigan Park only to then roll over when on the road.
“If you look at Antrim over the last five or six years, it’s either right up there or right down there (in terms of performance),” said Fitzgerald.
“There isn’t much middle ground, if we’re being honest about it. And that isn’t alone this year. There’s nothing different happening today that hasn’t been happening in the last few years. It’s the same thing, that it’s good (at home) and it’s really bad when we’re away.
“We’ve got to try and sort that out. I’m on the sideline a long time, anything I can try and do, I’m trying to do it. It didn’t matter what moves or what formation or what we tried to do today, it didn’t matter. I think it’s the application, we’ve got to get better away from home.
“I just want them to believe in themselves a bit more. What they do at times when they go behind, they need to believe in themselves.”
Antrim’s last league win outside of Corrigan Park was three years ago – a relegation playoff victory over Offaly in Navan in 2022.
And from early in the second half of this Division 1B encounter in Tullamore on Sunday it was clear that Antrim’s three-year search for an away league win would remain ongoing.
“We have to address away from Corrigan,” added Fitzgerald, whose side lost their opening league fixture to Dublin at Croke Park.
“We’ve just got to survive this year and learn. But that’s one of the big issues we have to sort, is that form away from Corrigan.”
Offaly were impressive throughout and moved the ball a lot better than the visitors. Still, after half an hour of hurling in Tullamore the Faithful – playing with the aid of the wind – only led by two points.
A pair of quickfire Seaan Elliott points had left the Saffrons just two adrift at that stage but from the 31st minute until the half-time whistle Offaly hit 1-5 without reply to lead 1-14 to 0-7 at the interval. Just like that, Antrim were chasing a 10-point deficit. And the game was up.
Dan Ravenhill netted the goal – the chance created by the lively Killian Sampson after Antrim’s Niall O’Connor ran down a cul-de-sac and got turned over.
“We gave a short pass we shouldn’t have given and they got a goal out of it,” added Fitzgerald.
“They got another point or two then and you could actually feel it on the sideline that we weren’t going to fight it back and I don’t know why that is, because they’re really good lads.
“But it is something that has been happening and we’ve got to try and stop that. I don’t know what the answer is to it because they’ve worked really, really hard. But we can’t be shipping beatings like that, end of story.”
They have Waterford in Corrigan Park next time out before an away trip to face Carlow at Netwatch Cullen Park.
“I want f**king consistency every single day, if we’re beaten I don’t mind but we have to be consistent in the way we apply ourselves,” continued Fitzgerald.
“If you look at Westmeath last week, look at the amount of turnovers and dispossessions in the tackle, we were good in the tackle.
“But Offaly hammered us in the tackle today. We’ve got to figure that out. They can bring all the Davy Fitzs or whoever else is there, it doesn’t matter until we make sure that we’re consistent over a period of time.”
But Antrim’s below par display shouldn’t take away from what was an impressive performance by Offaly. Johnny Kelly’s side had six of last year’s under-20 All-Ireland winning team involved and across the field the home players won nearly all of the individual battles.
Brian Duignan’s accuracy from placed balls provide Offaly with a real weapon, though it wasn’t a one man show as all six of their starting forwards scored in this match.
It took Antrim until the 57th minute to take their tally to double figures and moments later Sampson smacked home Offaly’s second goal of the afternoon. The home side led by 19 points in the closing stages but Antrim fired over the last four scores of the game.
Offaly now have five points after three rounds and sit on top of the Division 1B table. They travel to Croke Park to face Dublin next.
“Dublin will pose a really stern challenge for us in two weeks, that’s all we are looking at now,” said Kelly.
“The way Dublin are going, they are playing a really good brand of hurling and you could see the way Na Fianna played, so we are very conscious of how good that Dublin team is.”
But Offaly are no bad team either. And there is a sense of optimism growing around the county again. It feels like the start of something positive. For Antrim though, their lot on Sunday was another long trip home with yet more questions than answers to ponder.
“I’ve said it from day one,” said Fitzgerald. “It could get worse before it gets better.”
OFFALY: Mark Troy; Pádraig Cantwell, Ciarán Burke, James Mahon; Ross Ravenhill (0-1), Donal Shirley, Jason Sampson; Colin Spain, Cathal King; Oisín Kelly (0-1), Daniel Bourke (0-1), Killian Sampson (1-4); Dan Ravenhill (1-2, 0-1f), Charlie Mitchell (0-4), Brian Duignan (0-12, 0-9f, 0-1 65). Subs: Sam Bourke (0-1) for Cantwell (17 mins); David Nally for K Sampson (60 mins); David King for J Sampson (62 mins); Luke Watkins for Spain (64 mins); DJ McLoughlin for Shirley (67 mins).
ANTRIM: Ryan Elliott; Gerard Walsh, Paddy Burke, Declan McCloskey; Scott Walsh (0-1), Eoghan Campbell, Joe Maskey (0-1); Nigel Elliot, Niall O’Connor (0-1); Paul Boyle, Keelan Molloy (0-3), Niall McKenna; Seaan Elliott (0-2), James McNaughton (0-9, 0-7f, 0-1 65), Conor Johnston. Subs: Eoin McFerran for Walsh (13 mins); Ryan McCambridge for McKenna (ht); Conor Boyd for McCloskey (ht); Eoin O’Neill for Boyle (47 mins); Cormac McKeown for Johnston (61 mins).
Referee: Seamus Hynes (Galway).
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