Darren Gleeson looks set to maintain confidence with goalkeeper Tiernan Smith ahead of Sunday's match at Corrigan Park.
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Allianz Hurling League, Division 1B: Antrim v Galway |
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venue: Corrigan Park, Belfast date: Sunday, February 25th: 13:00 GMT |
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coverage: Live text score updates and match reports on the BBC Sport NI website |
A late error from young goalkeeper Tiernan Smith, who diverted Sean Gallagher's shot into his own net, gave Dublin a 1-20 to 1-19 victory.
After Limerick's opening bang, it was unlucky for Smith and Antrim.
But the truth is that the Safrans have been performing well and will be hoping for a similar performance on Sunday.
Long-time talisman Neil McManus has retired and Dunloy's quintet of Nigel Elliott, Ryan Elliott, Sean Elliott, Kieran Molloy and Eoin O'Neill have opted out of league play, plus Domhnall Nugent. And with Joe Muskie out, Antrim manager Darren Gleeson had no choice but to bring in a number of young players into the squad.
Among the players who have returned to the county team are Loughgiel's Rory McCloskey, who had a brilliant performance against Dublin, and Cushendall's Joseph McLaughlin and Fred McCurry, along with Rossa's Audhan O'Brien. included.
The new students are coached by experienced campaigners such as Paddy Burke, Eoghan Campbell, Ryan McGarry and Conal Canning, who had a 1-10 record against Dublin.
Gleason refused to blame Smith for the loss, instead pointing to a series of mistakes in the build-up to the goal.
“This was Tiernan's third goal in an inter-county start. He is an outfield player for the club,” Antrim said.
“He's learning and it's a tough learning curve for Tiernan, but we'll support him and make sure he gets more opportunities to collect balls like that.
Managers Henry Shefflin and Darren Gleeson are scheduled to face off at Corrigan Park.
“He played against the All-Ireland champions last week, conceded one goal and made a couple of great saves.”
“We're trying to bring a different dynamic with the modern goalie approach and he's really bought into that. He's put his hand up for that.”
Galway manager Henry Shefflin is currently without Cathal Mannion, Brian Concannon, Declan McLoughlin and Kevin Cooney, with the latter expected to miss the rest of the season with a serious hamstring injury. .
But the Tribesmen won the All-Ireland club title after Conor Cooney scored five points from play in the 26-1 to 24-0 defeat to Tipperary two weeks ago. It is hoped that several more representatives will return.
In their opening game a week ago, Galway defeated Westmeath 4-31 to 0-12.
Antrim and Galway last met in the Leinster Championship last May, when the Tribe won 5-29 to 1-22 at Salthill.
