Dubs survive jitters

IN the same weekend the movie The Hangover II was released, it was fitting Dublin’s hurlers were presented with the possibility of having their party crashed for the second time in 10 months.

Last year, Antrim rained on their parade to reach an All-Ireland quarter-final. Full of confidence after beating Clare the week previous, Anthony Daly’s side were six points ahead and cruising with 20 minutes remaining before disaster and Karl Stewart struck.

Yesterday, they were two better with an hour gone on the clock. They had the numerical advantage when Derek Molloy was shown a second yellow card in as many minutes for a foul on Conal Keaney. And yet somehow they sat back and put the feet up again. Daly acknowledged it: “I think the sending off was the signal for our boys to switch off and say ‘ah, we’ve won it now.’”