Antrim manager Kevin Ryan attributed his side's sluggish first half display against Offaly to them believing the game had a 3pm throw-in.

The understrength Saffrons had little or no time to warm up after they arrived in Tullamore just 10 minutes before the scheduled 2pm start, and were duly outplayed in the first half, at the end of which they trailed by a massive 1-3 to 5-16. They showed a big improvement in the second period to eventually lose by 4-9 to 5-27, but the result was irrelevant with a lot more being at stake (i.e. Division 1B survival) when the sides renew their rivalry in Ballycastle next Sunday.

"We thought it was a 3pm start," Ryan explained. "That threw us off and may have had something to do with the first half."

"We were short a few today, and deliberately so because we are resting injuries, but we would be very disappointed with our first half. In the second half, we kind of got back into it, though Offaly were always likely to take their foot off the pedal at 25 points up."

Offaly would be well advised to double check the time of next Sunday's relegation playoff before they make the long trip north… Tweet

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