By Shaun Casey

ANTRIM’S season is dangling by a thread and even a win this weekend away to Kilkenny isn’t enough to guarantee a spot in the All-Ireland Junior semi-final.

Antrim currently sit in third place of the five-team group, with the top two teams qualifying for the final four. Derry are clear at nine points, with Offaly and Antrim next in line and both sit with six points to their names.

Should Antrim, who reached the final last season but lost out to Louth, fail to get anything away to Kilkenny, who are bottom of the table on zero points having lost all their matches so far, then they’ll crash out of the competition.

Derry are travelling away to Offaly, and the Faithful County need to secure maximum points to ensure their passage to the semis. If Offaly and Antrim both get the job done, then it’s all going to come down to score difference.

The Oak Leaf County, who have won all three of their games to date, would need to lose to Offaly this weekend, at Grant Heating St Brendan’s Park, Birr, and lose by a big margin to miss out on their place in the semi-finals.

“It’s definitely a must-win game for us. We know what’s at stake and we know we need to give ourselves the best possible opportunity of qualifying for the semi-finals,” said Chris Scullion, joint-manager with the team alongside Michael Devlin.

“The players are fully aware of what’s required and, after the Longford performance, they’re demanding more of themselves again this weekend.

“We’ve spoken all year about focusing on our own standards and our own performance levels. If we can produce a performance that reflects those standards, hopefully it will put us in the position we want to be in when the final whistle goes.”

On the subject of score difference possibly deciding their fate, Scullion added, “Score difference is certainly something we are aware of.

“With Derry and Offaly playing each other this weekend, there are a number of different permutations that could impact the final standings.

“Both teams have already played Kilkenny, so naturally their score difference is stronger than ours at the moment.

“We understand the situation and we’ve set our targets accordingly and the girls are focused in achieving them.”

Antrim have already secured victories over Offaly and Longford, both on home turf, but those wins were split by a surprise round two defeat to Derry, which leaves them in the situation they find themselves in.

Kilkenny have suffered defeats to Longford, Offaly and Derry, but their poor record won’t change how Antrim view the contest.

“We approach this game the same way we would with any team.

“Nothing changes in that regard – whether a team is already qualified, already out, or still fighting for a place, we approach it the same way we always have. Prepare, create a plan, implement it, play to our standards and that’s exactly what we will do here as well.”

Antrim hammered home six goals against Longford last weekend through a Maria O’Neill hat-trick, Theresa Mellon, Bronagh Devlin and substitute Aoife Taggart. They still have a few injury concerns heading into the final round of fixtures.

“Unfortunately, we’ve picked up a few significant injuries to key players during the early stages of the All-Ireland campaign,” Scullion continued.

“One of the challenges for our players is balancing county and club commitments. Some of our players have to play club matches on the same day as county games, while others have been back out playing for their clubs the following evening.

“We’ve been working closely with the players and our medical team to manage training loads and recovery as best we can.

“The good news is that the injured players are making positive progress with their rehab and are doing everything possible to put themselves back in contention as quickly as they can.”