Antrim 3-24 Down 0-11

By Patrick Murphy (Down Hurling PRO)

Down lost heavily to Antrim in their opening match of their U-21 Ulster Championship campaign in Ballycran last Wednesday night. In a relatively bland affair the favourites, Antrim, shot off to an early start.

Leading 2-4 to 0-0 after 10 minutes Antrim never looked completely tuned in. Neal McManus who tormented Down in the Ulster Senior hurling final dominated the first half from centre half back. Anything that passed him was quickly dealt with by the rest of the Antrim back line particularly Aaron Graffin and Randall Mc Donnell.

Throughout the first half Down could not control the play or impose a style on the game. Still many of the Antrim players were making simple ball handling errors but Down were unable to punish them. Most notable were 2 missed goal chances created from the Antrim backs poor handling of the ball. Antrim’s forwards were not so lax. Paddy McGill, Seamus McDonnell and Paddy Doherty shone in the Antrim forward line as the Down defence were left chasing shadows.

At half time Antrim led 3-13 to 0-6. In the opening 10 minutes of the second half they scored 7 points and put the game beyond Down’s reach. Antrim then made 4 substitutions and Down made 5.

Down’s Eoin McGuinness and Sean Ennis came to life following the substitutions. And the final quarter was a more evenly contested affair. McGuinness was unfairly stopped on 2 occasions whilst goal bound and Malachy Magee caused numerous problems following his introduction to corner forward.

Luckily for Down the initial stage of the U-21 competition is a league, Down will play Derry in the next round.