Cork should be wary of walking into a Corrigan Park ambush this Saturday, Antrim legend Terence ‘Sambo’ McNaughton has warned.
Fresh from winning a dramatic Joe McDonagh Cup final last weekend, the Saffrons welcome Cork to Belfast for an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final.
The odds are stacked against a home win but Laois made light of that in similar circumstances three years ago when beating Dublin and, with Cork facing a lengthy trek north to an unfamiliar venue where Antrim have a decent recent record against top opposition, many of the conditions for a shock victory are already in place.
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“Big time,” said McNaughton. “It’s a tight pitch. It’s definitely not a Croke Park and Antrim have nothing to lose.
“Antrim’s in a great position. Like, Antrim can go at this game without any pressure.
“I’d imagine they’ll play a sweeper, I’d imagine they’ll try and tighten the defence up and stay in the game for as long as they can and try and get Cork to press the panic button like and if it comes down to a dogfight anything can happen.”
Antrim performed well against the higher ranking counties in the League but then slumped to a defeat against struggling Laois which left them in danger of relegation to Division 2A, which they managed to avert.
They made hard work of beating Kerry in last Saturday’s McDonagh Cup final and McNaughton believes that they struggle with the mantle of favourites, something which won’t bother them this Saturday.
“Antrim went out and they threw the shackles off and they tore into Waterford (in the League). That day against Waterford they were even the better team, only for a missed penalty.
“My concern with this team sometimes is the consistency level. Whenever they’re expected to do it, the pressure doesn’t sit well with them.”
Regardless of how Saturday plays out, Antrim will be in the Liam MacCarthy Cup next year but need to consolidate in the top tier after suffering immediate relegation last year.
“The worrying thing for me is we haven’t sorted out the juvenile situation,” Sambo cautioned. “We need a conveyor belt coming through.
“Who’s going to replace the Neil McManuses of this world? He’s not going to be there in three or four years’ time.
“But they do have some nice young hurlers there on the panel at the minute and the reality is, everybody that should be there in Antrim is there. Darren [Gleeson] has got them all out.
“There’s not a case where there’s guys at home that should be there, where in years gone by there have been.”
Playing in a Leinster round robin from next year and welcoming the likes of Kilkenny, Galway and Wexford to Belfast for big Championship games would be unprecedented for the area.
McNaughton added: “To have the big teams come to Casement or Corrigan Park as the case may be, it’s massive for the promotion of the game.
“The kids see that and they’ll see Antrim playing, it’ll be a big day, big occasion and that can only be good for Antrim hurling, get as many kids there as you can and get the crowd out to support them.
“Hopefully in Casement Park in a few years and get a good crowd there and get the whole of Ulster behind Antrim and build on it.
“But it’s a massive thing. I would love to have played the Kilkennys and that there in Casement Park in Championship hurling. The old saying, ‘A day is wasted is a memory is not made’. What a memory to have.”
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