Dublin boss John McEvoy is refusing to underestimate Antrim ahead of Saturday’s Bord Gais Energy All-Ireland U21HC semi-final in Newry.
The young Dubs are strongly fancied to reach their fourth All-Ireland final in the grade and second in four years, but McEvoy was impressed by Antrim’s strong finish to the Ulster final against Armagh and is taking nothing for granted.
“We went up to watch Antrim in the Ulster Final against Armagh and they are a very big and physical team. They finished the game very strongly and showed their obvious capabilities in the last ten minutes,” he told hill16.ie.
“They’ve also had strong minor teams in both 2008 and 2009 and given what happened against them in the senior championship qualifier last year, I think it would be foolish to underestimate any team that Antrim put together.”
McEvoy was delighted with Dublin’s performance against Wexford in the Leinster final at Wexford Park.
“It was a very mature performance from us that night and the lads should rightly take a great degree of confidence from their display. I was impressed with how they focused on playing the game, not the occasion, which reflects well on their maturity”, he continued.
“From the outset, we’ve been looking for a level of consistency from all our panel and we’ve encouraged lads who aren’t starting to make important contributions when they get the chance.”
Hogan Stand
