Leinster SHC: 'Antrim to beat Westmeath but it will be close' says McIntosh

Westmeath will go into Sunday's game buoyed by last weekend's stunning comeback win over Wexford

Ex-Antrim forward Johnny McIntosh believes the Saffrons will beat Westmeath to avoid relegation back to the Joe McDonagh Cup but expects it to be a nervy Mullingar contest on Sunday.

To avoid the drop, Antrim must win the Leinster SHC game against a side whose comeback stunned Wexford last Sunday.

Westmeath came from 17 points down to win 4-18 to 2-22 and a draw will keep them in the Leinster series in 2024.

"But I think Antrim will win by three points," McIntosh told BBC Sport NI.

"That's in spite of the injuries that are in the Antrim squad at the moment."

Surveying the Leinster fixtures before the competition started, the Westmeath v Antrim clash in the concluding series of round-robin games always had the appearances of a potential relegation encounter although Saffron spirits soared when they drew with Dublin in their opener at Corrigan Park in a game the home side should have won.

A dismal first-half display a week later saw Antrim lose 1-30 to 1-26 against Wexford in a game which McIntosh says now looks like "one that got away" given subsequent results.

Wexford now in relegation danger

Antrim would never have been expected to get close to Kilkenny and Galway in their next two games and duly conceded 5-31 and 5-29 but while they always knew realistically that victory against Westmeath was going to be required, that suddenly looks a much tougher task after last weekend's sensational events which saw Wexford dragged into the drop zone.

An Antrim win in Mullingar and Wexford defeat in Kilkenny will see the Model County suffering an ignominious drop to the second-tier championship, as Westmeath would survive on the head-to-head by dint of their victory last weekend.

Speaking earlier this week, Antrim boss Darren Gleeson mentioned Eoghan Campbell's name in a list of fitness doubts that also included Neil McManus, Seaan Elliott, Conal Bohill and Gerard Walsh.

Those definitely ruled out are Nigel Elliott, Phelim Duffin and season-long absentee Conor McCann.

"Neil McManus is probably going to be ruled out by his hamstring injury and as much as he has been an absolute stalwart over all the years, I think the absence of Eoghan Campbell at centre half-back has been an even bigger blow over the last two games against Kilkenny and Galway," added McIntosh.

"Not only in the fact that you are losing the leader in your defence, Eoghan Campbell is incredibly smart and gives the whole team a kind of solidity.

Johnny McIntosh says Eoghan Campbell's absence has hit Antrim hard in their last two games against Kilkenny and Galway and he is again a fitness doubt for Sunday's vital match

"He's kind of that player that Karl McKeegan or Gary O'Kane used to be. He doesn't always get the plaudits but he's absolutely crucial to that team.

"If Campbell isn't going to play this weekend, it's certainly going to make it a much more difficult task.

"It's really difficult for Antrim to set up if Eoghan Campbell isn't available. They've been trying to play Gerard Walsh at six and he's now a bit of a fitness doubt.

"You starting to look at pushing midfielders back but then again you don't have Nigel Elliott and possibly Seaan Elliott either.

"It's probably going to be as big a test of Darren Gleeson's management as he's ever had.

"We've found a good number three in Ryan McGarry but Gleeson is maybe going to be forced to move him to centre half-back, and if he's fit, put Gerard Walsh at full-back.

"But you are shuffling people about and making changes you don't want to have to make."

'Antrim's forwards can make the difference'

However despite the Saffrons' injury woes, McIntosh is optimistic that Gleeson will be able to come up with a plan to win in Mullingar.

While Niall O'Brien and second-half substitute Niall Mitchell both scored two goals for Westmeath last weekend and free-taker Ciaran Doyle hit 0-11, the Lake County notched a relatively paltry 1-38 in their previous three games.

"Antrim are in quite an exciting place in terms of what we have going up the field," added McIntosh.

"We have some very good forwards and it's just defensively we have looked just a little bit frail at times.

"We're averaging 23 scores and even against Kilkenny we scored 3-20. We even scored 1-22 against Galway which is fairly good scoring.

"Whereas Westmeath with the exception of last week, they have been only averaging 15 or 16 scores. So you do hope if that trend continues and if Antrim's defence is able to step up and manage that Westmeath attack, I think Antrim should come out on the right side of it.

"But there will only be a couple of points separating the sides where if you had asked me five or six weeks ago, I would have said that Antrim will go down to Westmeath and win by seven or eight."