By Michael McMullan

ANTRIM hurlers are back to where they want to be after Saturday’s win over Kerry landed a second Joe McDonagh Cup in three seasons.

After racing out of the traps, the Saffrons were left hanging on in the face of a gallant Kingdom comeback in an end to end encounter they won 5-22 to 4-24 thanks to two Ciaran Clarke goals and 1-12 from Man of the Match Conall Cunning.

The win booked the Saffrons’ place in next year’s Leinster Championship and an All-Ireland quarter-final play-off with Cork this weekend in Corrigan Park, a first since the Rebels’ 0-18 to 1-12 League victory in 2014 in Ballycastle.

“Winning the Joe McDonagh was brilliant (in 2020) but we were very disappointed at dropping out of the Liam McCarthy Cup,” Paddy Burke stated Antrim’s six-point defeat to Laois to send them back to the Joe McDonagh Cup.

“That was knockout and having the round robin will be massive for the development of the team and group, as opposed to a one off game,” he added.

“We will have five Championship games at Liam McCarthy level and we have another one this Saturday, when you think about a lot of the boys on the panel…last year was their first Liam McCarthy match.”

Saturday’s whirlwind in Croke Park was the unequivocal game of two halves. In the first half it was “happy days” which morphed into a second half where a nine-point lead never left the Antrim players feeling they were “home and hosed” at any stage.

“We had some decent performances in the league campaign, but we had nothing to show for it,” Burke said.

“That (McDonagh Cup) was the Championship we found ourselves in this year, so it was nice to win it no matter how we did.

After staying over on Saturday night, the Antrim squad were back training at a light session on Monday night to translate the high of victory into their preparation for Saturday’s visit of Cork to Corrigan Park
(2pm).

“We are definitely looking forward to having a crack at home against a top Liam McCarthy Cup team.

“That’s why we continued playing with Antrim, in the hope that these days would come around,” said Burke, who has yet to play against the Rebels.

“It will be brilliant for all the families of the players and the supporters. Getting to play a Championship game will be brilliant. It will be great for us as individuals and as a group to experience that.”