Antrim chalk up superb double in Killarney

With a tour of 65 cueists having been whittled down to two teams of 10 a last-minute decision was taken to include stalwarts Wayne Lewis and the evergreen Raymond Stockman in the line up.

This proved to be a masterstroke in providing security and experience for the younger teammates.

After a highly successful qualifying campaign, Antrim arrived at Gleneagle INEC Arena quietly confident that perhaps something special was achievable.

Although well favoured by the oddsmakers, both teams still had to deliver on the big stage.

Antrim A always looked well placed to qualify from their group. Victories over Cork, Clare, Westmeath, and Donegal meant that a loss to Louth made little difference.

Meanwhile Antrim B dominated their group, winning all their five matches. Comfortable victories over Galway, Limerick, Down, Offaly and Wexford made everyone believe that the Junior double was achievable.

Both teams responded superbly in their quarter-final clashes, Antrm B despatching Westmeath 14-6 and Antrim A comfortably defeating Mayo 14-9.

Daniel Connor got the A team off to a winning start in their semi-final against Galway B and although their opponents rallied to trail just 10-8 going into the final session Antrim stopped the rot to win 14-9.

The jubilant scenes were to be matched by Antrim B who, despite trailing 4-1 at one stage to Louth D powered home 14-6 to reach the Junior B final.

Antrim B faced Cavan B in the final and despite a close match always seemed to have the edge, sealing the All Ireland crown thanks to a 14-10 victory.

John Moore sprinted around the table to complete a fantastic win.

But there was huge drama for Antrim A who coasted to a 10-4 lead only to be unbelievably pegged back to 12-12 with the final going to a nail-biting deciding frame.

Thankfully it was left to Ciaran Reid to sink the winning black, much to the relief of suffering team captain Brendan O'Mullan, the man who together with Nigel Craig played a leading role in organising the Junior tour.

There was a sea of saffron jubilation as tears flowed at a superb Antrim effort. Congratulations to both teams.

Meanwhile in other events in Killarney, Frank Wright and Joe Patten almost won the over 60s three-man team event despite not having a third player.

The much fancied over 50s team reached the quarter-finals but came up short against Cork, losing 8-5.

In the singles A section Sean McCafferty made the last 32 while Daniel Connor went one step further losing in the last 16.

In the B section, Frankie McFetridge also enjoyed a great run while it was an all Antrim semi final as Tyler McKee edged past team captain Mark Millar. Unfortunately for Tyler he was to just come up short losing 8-7 in the final.

With the curtain drawn on Killarney 2024 the next event breaks off in Armagh next month with the The Ulster Open.