The difficult task of preparing Antrim's minor hurlers

July 25, 2014

Antrim minor manager Paul McKillen. INPHO
Manager Paul McKillen has faced a tough challenge in trying to get his Antrim minor side ready for this weekend's All-Ireland quarter-final against Galway.

The Glensman face the Tribe at Breffni Park on Sunday afternoon (2:00) and 1993 All Star McKillen has had his work cut out as he could only hold collective training once a week most weeks - a situation he describes as "not good enough for an Antrim minor team to compete in the All-Ireland series".

"I thought long and hard about it after I was asked before Christmas," the Ballycastle clubman says in The Belfast Telegraph. "I did a bit of homework and found out that through exams, fixtures etc. it is a serious hard job to do.

"We went in with the attitude that we could change it. We weren't going to let boys just walk in two weeks before championship and get a jersey. That saying, we set out this year and stuck to it.

"The problem is, the month of June for the young boys, is they are killed with fixtures and exams so you can hardly get them out the door.

"They might have a fixture on during the week on a night that you are trying to arrange training.

"We have worked with about 28 young players this year. They have stuck with us and now we're hoping we go out on Sunday and put up a good performance."

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