Sport

Antrim no match as Waterford stroll back into contention

Waterford 3-29 Antrim 3-10 NATIONAL HURLING league champions Waterford got their campaign back on track at Fraher Field, Dungarvan…

Mon Mar 10 2008 - 00:00

Waterford 3-29 Antrim 3-10NATIONAL HURLING league champions Waterford got their campaign back on track at Fraher Field, Dungarvan, yesterday when they recorded a 19-point victory over Antrim, who were never really in the game with a chance of success.

Waterford displayed their intent from the outset and they had raced into a 10-point lead by the 12th minute.

Hurler of the year Dan Shanahan struck for their opening goal in the ninth minute.

Antrim finally got on the scoresheet in the 13th minute with a point from Brendan Quinn. Still the home side continued to flash over points from Ken McGrath, Eoin Kelly and Séamus Prendergast to lead by 1-12 to 0-4 points by the 23rd minute.

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Antrim's Simon McCrory got in for a well-taken goal in the 24th minute yet the league champions never relented and added a further 1-8 before the interval.

Dan Shanahan flicked home his second goal in the 33rd minute after goalkeeper Ryan McGarry had made a good save and Waterford led by a whopping 2-20 to 1-5 at the interval.

The pace of the game slowed somewhat in the second half as Waterford remained firmly in control, adding four quick points on the turnover with Eoin Kelly scoring their third goal with a ground stroke in the 50th minute.

Antrim, to their credit, kept plugging away and were rewarded with goals in the 52nd minute from Karl Stewart and in the 67th minute by Paddy Richmond.

Waterford will face a much tougher test against All-Ireland champions Kilkenny at Nowlan Park next Sunday while Antrim will have it all to do to retain their Division One status.

WATERFORD:C Hennessey; E Murphy, R Foley, A Kearney; K Moran, K McGrath (0-4),J Kennedy; M Walsh (0-3),S O'Sullivan; D Shanahan (2-2), S Prendergast (0-6), E Kelly (1-6); S Walsh (0-3), D Prendergast (0-2),S Casey. Subs: E McGrath (0-2)for S O'Sullivan inj, J Mullane (0-1)for D Shanahan, D Coffey for A Kearney, B Phelan for K Moran, D Bennett for E Murphy inj.

ANTRIM:R McGarry; A Graffin, M McCambridge, S Delargy; K Herron, K McKeegan (0-1), K Elliott; S McCrory (1-0), D McNaughton (0-1); P McGill (0-1), L Watson (0-4), P Richmond (1-1); K Stewart (1-0), C Donnelly (0-1), B Quinn (0-1). Subs:J Campbell for K Elliott, E McCluskey for S McCloskey, S McNaughton for B Quinn, C McAuley for C Herron, P J O'Connell for D McNaughton.

Referee: R Murphy(Wexford.