THE Antrim hurlers’ season is only a game old but already Davy Fitzgerald’s panel is missing players for Sunday’s NHL Division 1B home game against Westmeath at Corrigan Park.
Niall O’Connor of St Enda’s, Glengormley limped out of last Saturday’s defeat to Dublin at Croke Park, while St John’s attacker Conor Johnston was forced to pull out of the starting line-up during the pre-match warm-up.
Dunloy duo Keelan Molloy and Seaan Elliott both featured against the Dubs and probably ahead of schedule following injuries.
Gerard Walsh got some minutes too after returning from holiday, likewise Joe Maskey who is back involved after stepping away from the Antrim set-up last season.
Antrim aren’t carrying as big a panel as previous years and with mounting injuries Fitzgerald’s options could be limited next Sunday.
“We’ve got a small squad,” said selector Pat Bennett.
“We’ve 31 players and with a small squad we need everybody. You can’t afford injuries and we’ve picked some more up [against Dublin] so we’ll be going into the Westmeath game down more guys. We’ve got five U20s on the panel.
“We’ve one lad who is only 18 (Cormac McKeown) and he has two years at U20.”
Bennett added: “Conor Johnston pulled up in the warm-up and we didn’t really want to play Keelan the full game; we just wanted to bring him on but he lasted the full game. Seaan is only back a week.
“Gerard Walsh is only back from his sojourn, so they’ll take a little bit of time. We’ve Westmeath next week. They beat us in the League last year and they’ll be coming expecting to beat us again, but we’ll lift the hurls again and go at it.”
Westmeath defeated Antrim in last year’s League meeting in Mullingar and are under new management themselves this season following Joe Fortune’s departure after three years in charge.
Fortune has been replaced by former Meath manager and former goalkeeper Seoirse Bulfin. The Limerick native has worked closely with Fitzgerald in Wexford, Waterford and Clare and was regarded a key cog in the Clare man’s management teams.
Westmeath’s home game with Laois last weekend was postponed due to a frozen pitch so Sunday’s trip to west Belfast will be their first competitive game of 2025.
Antrim lost by a 14-point margin to an impressive Dublin team at Croke Park on Saturday night and only managed six points from play across the 70 minutes – James McNaughton (0-2), Niall McKenna (0-2) and a point apiece from Niall O’Connor and Nigel Elliott.
While disappointed with aspects of Antrim’s play, Bennett urged patience as the squad gets to grips with the style of play Fitzgerald is trying to implement.
“We saw the gaps, the lads saw the gaps. We know what happened. If the system breaks down and a player is somewhere he shouldn’t then it becomes a problem.
“The lads know that. It’s about the freedom to go and play and they have freedom to go and play, but it’s not in their heads yet.
“But if you saw the effort these lads have put in over the last five weeks, that wasn’t them. But it’s the first round of the League. We’ll be meeting Dublin in the Championship in Corrigan and we’ll talk then.”