Minor hurlers set for Antrim duel

Dublin minor hurlers will be hoping to get their Championship ambitions back on target when they face Antrim in Saturday’s All-Ireland MHC quarter-final at Kingspan Breffni Park (3.0).

The Dubs lost narrowly to Kilkenny in the Leinster MHC final when the Cats came with a strong finish to edge out Johnny McGuirk’s men by two points.

“I think the lads feel that they left it behind them when losing to Kilkenny last Sunday fortnight,” says the Dublin manager.

“Granted, the result didn’t go our way but the lads can take a lot from the performance and they’ll understand how important is it to close out games, especially at this level where the standard is so high.

“We got very close to beating Kilkenny and the lads have recovered well from that setback and are pushing each other very hard at training.

“The intensity has been very high in these sessions and there is a lot of energy and quality at training and that extra drive that they’re showing should stand us in good stead,” adds Johnny.

“The lads have been working very hard all year and it is a good opportunity for us to qualify for an All-Ireland semi-final but that will only happen if we put in the same amount of effort and application as we have done so far.

“We’ll have them just right for the Antrim challenge and it is just a case of taking it one game at a time,” concludes Johnny.