Antrim U-21 boss praises his 'history makers'

The Antrim Under-21 hurlers' stunning All-Ireland semi-final win over 1/80 favourites Wexford yesterday even left their own manager Kevin Ryan admittedly 'shocked' and 'amazed'.

The Saffrons qualified for their first All-Ireland decider at this age-grade thanks to a 2-15 to 1-16 triumph at Semple Stadium, doing so despite a limited amount of players - 20 in all, including goalkeeper Ger Dixon - and an unfortunate fixtures clash within the county.

A round of Antrim Senior Football Championship matches were scheduled for the same day as the U-21 hurling semi-final, a situation which left Ryan seething beforehand as he was left without some of his dual players.

"The level of apathy shown towards this (All-Ireland semi-final) fixture is just ridiculous. I can't tell you how frustrating it has been and that has got to change if we are to progress," he told the Irish News earlier in the week.

"It's just a crazy scenario between the club Championship fixtures being scheduled for the same day as out All-Ireland semi-final and players going on lads' holidays at this time of year."

The fact that Ryan only had 14 players turn up for training on Thursday evening make yesterday's performance and result in Thurles even more remarkable.

Antrim needed a touch of good fortune for their first goal as Stephen McAfee's speculative shot from distance was misjudged by Wexford goalkeeper Brian Murphy and ended up in the net, but once they went ahead in the third minute they maintained their lead right to the finish.

Ciaran Clarke, who finished with 1-5, added a second goal in the 13th minute and man-of-the-match McAfee went on to hit 1-4 as the Glensmen - with goalkeeper Ger Dixon also making a couple of superb saves - outworked and out-thought a disappointing Wexford outfit.

Speaking afterwards, Ryan was delighted with the composure shown by his youngsters as they stood firm in a hard-fought finish to set up a showdown with defending champions Clare on Saturday, September 15.

"What really excited me in the first half was after when we got the goals whenever they hit back with a point we answered with a point," he said.

"Because we were keeping that gap in it we all started to get a bit more confident. At half-time (leading 2-7 to 0-9) we knew we had to start all over again and not think about All-Irelands or great victories or anything like that.

"I'm amazed because some of them are so young and aren't used to this whatsoever yet they kept their composure in the second half. We drew Wexford on to us a bit but that was our plan because we wanted to crowd the scoring area."

Given their less than ideal build-up, Waterford man Ryan had just wanted a 'good performance and to be within six or seven points of Wexford'. He had even booked a trip to America for next week, thinking his Ulster U-21 champions were unlikely to progress past Wexford.

Ryan stressed that the sportsmanship Wexford showed in applauding the Antrim players off the pitch yesterday evening was 'much appreciated' by his panel.

The Model county's own manager JJ Doyle was left to rue a flat display from effectively the same Wexford side that beat Kilkenny in the Leinster U-21 final - the only change was Aaron Kenny's inclusion at midfield.

"The mood was very good, training and everything had gone well. It seemed like they were up for it. But we had said that if we didn't perform to 100% of our ability and weren't up to their level, we wouldn't get a result," Doyle admitted after the game.

"We weren't up to their level of hunger and tenacity, to be honest, and wanting every single ball. It seemed like we were waiting for it to happen instead of making it happen."