PREVIEW: Antrim v Dublin- Leinster SHC

Dublin's Senior Hurlers head to Belfast this weekend, looking to continue their 100% start to the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship against Antrim at Corrigan Park (throw-in 4pm on Saturday).

Get match tickets here.

In the opening round of the 2025 provincial championship, Dublin produced a fine late show to claim victory over Offaly, a surge that started in the 68th minute when Ronan Hayes found the net.

He, Conor Donohoe, Brian Hayes and John Hetherton then drove Dublin on and into the lead against the Faithful County as we claimed the two points.

Our second championship game was a cracker. Rory O’Connor and Cian Byrne had helped Wexford to a slender point advantage over Dublin with goals, but Seán Currie was picking up some good scores for the Boys in Blue to ensure the game remained tight.

The two teams matched each other point for point after the restart until Cathal Dunbar scored Wexford’s third of the game, but Seán Currie was on hand and replied for Dublin from the spot four minutes later and then just 60 seconds later, Hetherton gave us the lead with a second Dublin goal of the afternoon.

Dublin had their tails up and a third goal would come our way when Hetherton found the net again two minutes later in the 53rd minute to round off the blitz on the Wexford net. Darragh Power and Donohoe and Colin Currie helped Dublin over the line despite Lee Chin scoring Wexford’s fourth goal of the match in the 70th minute.

Niall Ó Ceallacháin’s side will be full of confidence after their strong start to the 2025 championship but will be fully aware of the challenge that awaits in Corrigan Park- a venue that has thrown-up some huge battles between the sides in recent years.

Davy Fitzgerald’s Antrim suffered a 2-24 to 0-19 defeat away to Wexford in the opening round of Leinster Senior Hurling Championship action. Despite being very much in the game at half-time, trailing 0-14 to 0-10, they were unable to live with Wexford, who turned on the style in the second-half to win with ease.

Despite going down to a heavy defeat, James McNaughton, Keelan Molloy and Gerard Walsh all made significant contributions to the Antrim cause.

Next up for Antrim was the visit of Kilkenny to Belfast and once more they were on the receiving end of a defeat, this time going down 2-30 to 2-12.

However, it was a game of two halves and the Saffrons were actually leading Kilkenny at the interval, 2-8 to 0-13, with McNaughton and Molloy doing the business in front of the posts again. The duo led the Antrim attack, with Conal Bohill being the only other first-half scorer for the home team.

A Kilkenny goal in the 51st minute saw the visitors take a grip of the game and dominate from there on; Antrim didn’t score again until McNaughton pointed in injury-time as they ran out of steam against a talented Kilkenny team.

Despite their two defeats, they have notable firepower at their disposal in the form of McNaughton and Molloy and will pose a big threat to Dublin's defence this Saturday.

You can buy tickets here - throw-in 4pm.

 The game will also be shown live on GAA+

Dublin v Antrim recent Leinster Senior Hurling Championship meetings:

●      11th May 2024, Parnell Park, Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Round 3 - Dublin 3-32 (41) - 1-18 (21) Antrim

●      22nd April 2023, Corrigan Park, Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Round 1 - Antrim 1-19 (22) - 1-19 (22) Dublin

●      26th June 2021, Páirc Tailteann, Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Quarter-Final - Dublin 3-31 (40) - 0-22 (22) Antrim.