We got rub of green at vital times, says Conran

RELIEVED Wexford manager John Conran was not in the least bit surprised at the stirring challenge thrown down by Antrim to his side at Croke Park yesterday.

"Dinny Cahill has been doing great work since he took over as manager of Antrim," he said, "and we knew in our hearts and souls that this was going to be one hell of a dog fight. So it proved. They threw everything at us, but we got the rub of the green on crucial occasions, particularly in relation to Paul Codd's goal, which won it in the end for us.

"This Antrim side are improving by leaps and bounds and would have been a handful for any team in the country on this occasion. They really came at us with a vengeance from the word go and, at times, we were skating on a banana skin. This Wexford side seem intent on having us all into the emergency department with heart failure, but I thought they displayed great character in withstanding the enormous pressure Antrim exerted upon them.

"Antrim missed some very good scoring chances, particularly in the first half, and if they had taken them we would have been in severe trouble. But that is what I mean by getting the rub of the green and luck was on our side in this game, make no mistake about that. It was a tremendously hard match and I thought both sides served up a great feast of hurling. Antrim were unlucky to lose out, but we are delighted to have claimed our place in the All Ireland semi final. We will forget about Antrim for the moment and focus all our attentions on Cork in the coming weeks," said Conran.

Disappointed but far from despondent Antrim manager Dinny Cahill said this was another learning curve for his side, which he will remain committed to for the next two years. The former Tipperary player said: "the one lesson that we must learn is that games last for 70 minutes. For the second year in a row we faltered in the vital closing stages, and we must rectify that if we are to make a really serious bid to win the All-Ireland. I believe we are good enough to do so. This Antrim team is as good as any south of the border but the vital difference is that they do not get the same number of competitive game during the season. We are five hours away from inter county hurling this same time it takes to fly from Ireland to New York.

"However, next year we will be playing in the Premier Division of the league and this, I believe, will be of huge benefit to this Antrim side.

"I am proud of what they did today, and despite this heartbreaking defeat, this young side will come back to achieve great things."

Cahill added: "we made a number of mistakes today and were cruelly punished for them. To win major games you cannot afford to chalk up the number of wides we had.

But a defiant Cahill said: "I thought we played really well and can only improve, and we are eagerly looking forward to coming back to Croke Park next year and showing what we can really do."