Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CORRIGAN SPARK
Saffrons stun Banner on their return to top flight hurling in Belfast
ANTRIM manager Darren Gleeson hailed the mentality of his squad as they marked their return to Division 1 hurling with a deserved two-point win over Clare at Corrigan Park, Belfast.
The Saffrons trailed by six points after 13 minutes but then hit a 15- minute purple patch in which they outscored Clare by 1-6 to 0-3.
Ciaran Clarke was the man who raised the green flag for Antrim who trailed by two points at the break.
Boss Gleeson
(right), a Tipperary All-ireland medallist, never doubted their belief in the final quarter.
“These are the things you work on in training: if a team is x amount ahead, then try to build it back.”
Gleeson added: “I have a solid belief that these lads can play at the highest level. Now they have to find out if they can back up that performance and keep momentum going.
“The League is massive for us. Not to take away from our win, but Clare experimented there a small bit.”
Clare got off to a fast start with the strong breeze and found themselves 0-9 to 0-3 ahead by the 13th minute before Antrim began to find their range.
Clarke and captain Conor Mccann reduced the deficit with Neil Mcmanus adding a brace of frees. Clarke then got on
the end of a diagonal ball and fired past Eibhear Quilligan in the Clare goal to level the game at 1-9 to 0-12.
Clare responded and were two points in front at the break but with the wind at their backs Antrim took the game to Clare and were level by the 40th minute through a Clarke brace from placed balls.
The sides then shared the next 14 points but crucially for Antrim it was Clare who were playing catch-up with Eoghan Campell and Keelan Molloy stringing together back-to-back scores before the 46th minute.
A monster effort from play from Mcmanus on 68 minutes put Antrim ahead once more before Clarke converted a free to seal a memorable victory for Gleeson’s side who travel to face Kilkenny next week.