WE WOULDN’T FOR ONE second say that it was a pressing area of concern for Declan McBennett when he became head of sport for RTÉ, but it might have struck him nonetheless; how come there was virtually no Ulster voice when it came to hurling?
Where does this rank in terms of the greatest days for Antrim? Somewhere behind Offaly in the 1989 semi-final. Some might say it wasn’t as significant as the win over Dublin in 2010 to make it to the All-Ireland quarter-final. Maybe. Maybe not. Back in 2013 he also played a role in another big day. The county Under-21 team beat Wexford in an All-Ireland semi-final. Then senior manager Kevin Ryan was in charge, and McManus was a selector.
— Antrim GAA April 27, 2024 Diehards would love to have said that they team ‘took a dive’ against Kilkenny in Nowlan park, but it wasn’t the case. For the second year in a row, they played the black and amber jerseys, not just a hurling team.