Big year for Antrim and Darren Gleeson

By Shane Brophy

It was the first fixture Darren Gleeson looked out for when the redrawn groups for this new two-year cycle for the National Hurling League division 1 had Tipperary and his adopted Antrim pitted together.

Playing Tipperary in the final round at Semple Stadium, the Portroe clubman would have been hoping to be coming in with something to play for but the defeat to Laois last time out means the saffron have nothing at stake this Sunday, as they already know they will be playing in a relegation final against Limerick or Offaly the following weekend.

“It’s far from ideal,” Gleeson said of preparing to take on Tipperary.

“We will be out six or seven days later in a very important match. You focus on every game you go out to play and you want to perform but our eyes will be on the following weekend unfortunately.

“We have been operating with the same 22 players for the four games we have played to date and have been competitive with them. We’ll have to weigh up our options and see what is best for them and whether there are guys that need a bit of game time, and players that didn’t perform as well as we expected against Laois and do they need more time for the confidence to come back ahead of the relegation game. It’s a bit of a balancing act for us.”

Antrim have been impressive in the National League so far but have nothing to show with four loses from four games, with a measly score difference of -10, compared to Laois’ -53 but it is they who are safe from relegation by virtue of the head-to-head win over Gleeson’s charges two weeks ago.

However, moral victories don’t wash for Gleeson who had admitted the campaign has been “extremely frustrating.”

“Moral victories follow teams around like Antrim and Laois, Kerry earlier in the season when they beat Tipp. We don’t need moral victories. We need to make continued progress against teams of our own level.”

He added: “In every game we were there or thereabouts, and they could have gone either way. It is not that we have been wiped off the field by teams, it’s our own individual errors that have cost us which is unfortunate, and some are the most basic of errors.

“The last day playing against Laois, who were more or less destroyed in two of their three games, but whether we didn’t perform or weren’t let perform, it was highly frustrating. We knew going to O’Moore Park it would be difficult, Tipp found it difficult there in the first game, but we didn’t bring the required level of performance that day and got the result we deserved.”

It has been in the matches they are expected to win, such as against Laois two weeks ago, and in the All-Ireland relegation final against the same opposition last year, where Antrim have tended to come up short when having a level of expectancy on their shoulders. It is something Gleeson and his management are fully aware of, and it is that level of consistency against teams of their own standing that has frustrated him as well.

“When you look at the performances against the so-called bigger teams we weren’t found wanting for drive or aggression,” he pointed.

“If you want to play at the top level all the time, you have to be motivated for every team that comes your way and if you want to stay in the top level you have to be motivated that way. That is disappointing.

“For Antrim to make the step forward we need to be consistently beating the teams in our own tier, from team 14 to team 8, we need to be consistently able to win those games and that seems to be the problem.

“Last year we had no problem getting motivated for Clare, Wexford, or Kilkenny, and the same this year for Waterford, Kilkenny, and Dublin but we are just lacking that bit of extra drive against teams at our own level.”

Not only have Antrim the target of staying in division 1 in the coming weeks, but they are also the favourites to win the MacDonagh Cup and make a swift return to the All-Ireland Championship, which makes it a big year for Gleeson in his third year in charge of the Ulster side.

“It is a very big year for Antrim,” he agreed.

“Division 1 status is massive and it not just to be at the top level but getting competitive games.

“We were unfortunate the year after winning the MacDonagh Cup (2020) we were in a one game shootout in the Championship versus having the opportunity to play five games in Leinster. For Antrim’s sake the next step is we need division 1 status and win the Joe MacDonagh, and if we don’t it will be a time for reflection for some of the players and us as management.”

Managing a county such as Antrim is a massive commitment considering the drive from Portroe to Belfast at least three times a week takes the guts of three hours each way and for the midweek sessions, Gleeson leaves his home in Portroe around 12.30 lunchtime and might not arrive home until the same time in the early hours of the morning.

However, he still finds the challenge hugely enthusiastic in what is his fourth year involved with Antrim, after starting out as coach in 2019 before taking the helm the year after.

“It definitely still is gratifying,” he said.

“There was a huge break there with Covid which can do two things, it can save your energy when you are not travelling as much and then things were compacted which meant it wasn’t the commitment as originally thought.

“It is frustrating as well that we lost out on a lot of work that we could have been putting into players.

“Looking at the squad, this is probably as strong as we have been in my time. We have developed a lot in the last three or four months where we got to spend a lot of time together which we wouldn’t have had during the pandemic year.

“I still find it very rewarding; I enjoy it.”

This Sunday won’t be the first time Gleeson would have managed against his native county as they frequently took on Tipperary in challenge games when his clubmate Liam Sheedy was in charge. However, league is different and while Antrim may well have one eye on that is to come the following week, Tipperary could well be playing their final competitive game before the championship and the former All-Ireland winning goalkeeper feels it won’t take much for his native county to start firing again.

“I don’t believe in the line that Tipp are in transition,” Gleeson said.

“The bulk of the same players and squad are there. With the likes of Brendan and Paudie retiring, there is always going to be natural migration when players get to a certain age, but the bulk of the panel have guys that were there two or three years and know what it takes to be competitive and win an All-Ireland.

“There is a false narrative there maybe about what is going on. Colm (Bonnar) and the selectors are shrewd and have been around a long time. They are having a look internally at players as well and have given a good bit of exposure to players during the league and are trying a different brand of hurling. Whether they stick with that for the championship, who knows, but they are trying to see what works for the players they are giving opportunities to.

“I think come championship Tipp will be there or thereabouts.”