Antrim stun Wexford, Dubs win
ANTRIM provided the first shock of the hurling summer as they stunned Wexford with two quickfire goals to take a deserved victory in Corrigan Park yesterday, as the
Leinster hurling championship took flight.
They faced down a strong early showing from the visitors to win by two points, 2-22 to 2-20, and leave
Wexford facing an uphill task to make the All-Ireland series.
Trailing by seven points early in the second half, and with Lee Chin in irrepressible form for the visitors, Antrim looked unlikely to make good on the disastrous outing they endured to Nowlan Park in the first round.
They lost that game by 32 points, but they showed remarkable resolve here to hang in and chip away at Wexford’s advantage, until a dramatic goal from Niall McKenna with 10 minutes left tied the game.
He was played in by James McNaughton, and it was McNaughton who was the provider just minutes later for Sean Elliott, who struck a goal that edged the hosts into a tight lead.
They held it to the end, despite the heroics of Chin, who finished the match with 2-11.
It was the second time in a week that Wexford have frittered away a big lead.
In round one, it was Dublin who capitalised to get a draw, and in Dr Cullen Park last night the boys in blue won by five against Carlow – 1-24 to 0-22.
Carlow had led by four points at the interval, 0-13 to 0-9, and the game remained up for grabs until a fortuitous Dublin goal in the 57th minute.
A shot from distance by Fergal Whitely ended up dropping into the Carlow goal. With that advantage, Dublin managed to stay in front until the final whistle.
Facing Kilkenny and Galway in their final matches, and a trip to Antrim up next, Micheál Donoghue’s team still have much to do to secure passage from the province. However they remain unbeaten after two rounds.