Wimbledon weren't supposed to beat Liverpool in the FA Cup final in 1988, Buster Douglas had no chance against Mike Tyson in 1990. In 1992 Clare suprised the whole GAA world when they won the Munster Football final, dammit even last week the Connaught script said that Sligo were due to win out over Roscommon in the provincial decider. Having said all of that, here is my official Saturday evening prediction - Antrim won't beat Cork tomorrow, it's a mountain to steep to climb. Isn't it??
The last time Antrim hurlers were in the All Ireland quarter final Cork were the opposition. That resulted in an awful hammering and was one of the worst days out I can remember in Croke Park. Since that time the narrative has been mostly a downhill one - the introduction of the qualifier system which for a while involved groups of three teams placed huge obstacles in the way of Antrim in their quest for a return to this stage. There were high points too in the last 6 years. Winning the Christy Ring cup felt a little bit underwhelming, but league wins over Galway, Wexford, Limerick were fine achievements. The Walsh Cup win in 2008 was something of a milestone, involving as it did a competitive win over Kilkenny. On the night that Northern Ireland's soccer team upset the odds against England in Windsor Park, Antrim fans had their own floodlit joy when we inflicted Dublin's first league reversal of the year.
Can tomorrow be another milestone day? Of course it can happen, and it doesn't take that much of a stretch to imagine the series of events which will have to converge to result in a Saffron victory - it just that it seems highly unlikely. It is true that a lot of our players can improve their own performance from last week and if we are not blown away in the opening half then who's to know? In theory anything less than a 23 point defeat would represent a better return than 2004, but we will be hoping for much, much more than that.
We can look for solid performances from Neil McManus, PJ O'Connell, Liam Watson, Karl McKeegan, Shane McNaughton, Paul Sheils et al. We have a useful subs bench too and it is likely that Michael Herron and Barry McFall will see significant action. If these guys deliver as best they can, we can all take some encouragement from Croke Park tomorrow.
To my memory last Saturday represented Antrim's first hurling win in Croke Park since 1989. 21 years is a long time to have waited between wins. Given the talent and the workrate of these players, the committment from Dinny Cahill and his team, it won't take that long again.
Earlier today Antrim minors lost out to Dublin on a 3.13 to 1.11 scoreline. Details to follow via the Club Aontroma twitter feed.
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