McNaughton and McKinley answer Antrim hurling SOS

Terence ‘Sambo’ McNaughton and Dominic McKinley during their first stint in charge of Antrim

TERENCE ‘Sambo’ McNaughton and Dominic McKinley have answered Antrim hurling’s SOS call and will lead a new interim management team following the premature departure of PJ O’Mullan, it has been formally announced.

McNaughton and McKinley, who had a previous stint at the helm between 2007-09, will be assisted by Gary O’Kane and Neil Pedan.

‘Sambo’ and ‘Woody’ enjoyed glittering intercounty careers and are highly respected figures in Antrim, playing a key role in the development of their current generation of hurlers when they oversaw the minors in 2005 and 2006.

McNaughton and McKinley are joined by Dunloy’s Gary O’Kane, another member of the Antrim senior team during the eighties and nineties, and St John’s Neil Pedan, who also played for the Saffrons during the eighties.

The move comes a week after the resignation of PJ O’Mullan after just 141 days in the role. The former Loughgiel Shamrocks manager stepped down after a disastrous Division 2A campaign, which was further tinted with rumour and innuendo following a loss to London on the final day of fixtures.

Hopes remain that the beleagured Antrim hurlers will salvage something from the wreckage in their forthcoming Christy Ring Cup campaign, which gets underway against Kildare on Saturday, April 23.

Speaking in this week’s edition of Gaelic Life, Antrim and Cushendall hurler Shane McNaughton (son of Terence) said Antrim hurling required a complete overhaul and called for ‘honesty’ at all levels.