Their heroics in Division One won them plenty of admirers last season, but Antrim hurling manager Darren Gleeson knows it will be equally as difficult to retain their top flight status this term.
The Saffrons were Joe McDonagh Cup champions and Division 2A winners in 2020 and they announced their arrival on their return to the top tier with a stunning 1-21 to 0-22 win over Clare in Corrigan Park last May.
Their momentum was checked somewhat by back-to-back defeats on the road against Kilkenny, who they face on Sunday, and Dublin.
However, they ended the campaign on a high with a battling draw against Wexford and a last day win over Laois.
Although they suffered relegation back to the Joe McDonagh Cup last summer, few teams in Division One will be taking the challenge of Antrim lightly during the League campaign.
Ahead of Sunday’s trip to UPMC Nowlan Park to face Kilkenny, Gleeson hopes the Saffrons haven’t lost the element of surprise, even after a seven-point loss to Brian Cody’s side last season.
“We put in a good enough shift (against Kilkenny), but we came away beaten,” said Gleeson.
“It doesn’t matter what the score is, it is whoever is ahead at the end that counts.
“Whether you are beaten by one, seven or 17, it is still the same amount of points given out for it.
“Maybe that element of surprise is still there as we underperformed in the Liam MacCarthy Cup last year, or we weren’t let perform - whichever way you want to look at it.
“So maybe teams will think we aren’t up to that level and they’ll take their eye off us.”
The Antrim boss refutes the notion that staying in Division One will be more difficult this year than last as they only have two home games with Dublin and Waterford visiting Corrigan Park later this month.
“When the fixtures came out, straight away you’re looking at the split and the three games away from home,” added Gleeson.
“We’re unlucky that we have to go to Kilkenny two years in a row. That’s the run of it. Is it more difficult this year? I’d say it is equal.
"If you aren’t good enough to be in the top 10 or 12 teams, you aren’t good enough - it doesn’t matter what side of Division One you are in.
“If it doesn’t go for you, you’ve a one-off game against the bottom team from the other group. There are lots of opportunities to stay in the League and, if you aren’t good enough, the League doesn’t lie.”
There is little doubting Antrim’s improvement under Gleeson, now in his third year at the helm.
The Saffrons proved that they can mix it at the highest level in the League last season. The challenge now is to make that next step up and compete on a regular basis.
The Liam MacCarthy relegation play-off defeat to Laois in July was a set-back for their ambitions and Gleeson feels his side still need to eliminate the handling errors and the simple mistakes - the fine lines between winning and losing at the highest level.
“I’d say we’re still trying to drill that message home to the lads on the training pitch that they aren’t going to get a second or third bite of the cherry like you would at a lower level,” said the Tipperary native.
“They probably realise that after last year and it was probably evident in the Walsh Cup games.
“We had a good start against Dublin the first day and, again, we made basic errors.
“There just is no such thing as a second chance against a team like that - you get punished as Dublin proved that day.
“It was the same thing against Galway, simple mistakes, and we let the game run away from us."
Despite losing all three of their Walsh Cup games to Dublin, Offaly and Galway, Gleeson expressed his satisfaction with how their pre-season went.
Antrim also fielded an U20 selection in the Conor McGurk Cup, hosted by Queen’s University Belfast, and and Gleeson said running two squads allowed them to give game time to a greater range of players.
“We had 35 or 40 in the squad so we wouldn’t have been able to play Saturday and Sundays,” said Gleeson.
“The U20s are trying to get going this year and they’re putting in a really good shift. We gave them the opportunity to play in the McGurk Cup.
"It was a great bedding ground for them and it worked well for them.
“In the senior side, we got some really competitive games in the Walsh Cup. Our focus was trying to get as fit as we can and get over the injury problems we had and we had enough of them.
“We’ve January behind us now and we’ve five really striking games to look forward to in the League.”
Antrim will be without a number of key players for Sunday’s trip to Kilkenny with captain Conor McCann still working his way back to full fitness after a gruelling club season with the Creggan footballers who won the Antrim SFC title.
Domhnall Nugent is also doubtful while Damon McMullen (shoulder), Matthew Donnelly (thumb) and Shea Shannon (hand) are all ruled out.
