“They [Galway] were lovely when they had the extra man and moved the ball about, but when the game was a game and it was even numbers, we were in a good position. I’m just disappointed for the lads who put in a big shift.
“Playing with 14 men against 15 for 37 minutes… a nightmare after half-time, but we just get on with it now. We’ll be without Ryan and a few others for next week, so all our focus goes on that.”
The upshot is that Antrim find themselves in the same position they were in this time last year, requiring a result to save their McCarthy Cup status regardless of how Sunday’s game between Carlow and Wexford plays out.
At half-time on Saturday, there was a very real possibility they may have been eyeing the opposite end of the table when they host Carlow next Sunday as they led Galway by one and were full value for their lead, but it would all unravel in the second period with McGarry’s dismissal.
“Just stay doing what we are doing was what we said at half-time – keep pressing them and don’t give them the free extra man to play out and look nice,” Gleeson continued.
“But we lost that when we went a man down and they could spread the ball about the place. That was the decision that was made and it had big consequences for us, but we’ll just move on now and our focus turns to Carlow.”
