Antrim made a winning start to Division 3 after seeing off Limerick on a 2-14 to 2-7 scoreline at Mick Neville Park in Rathkeale.
Andy McEntee's men were full value for the victory but were pushed all the way in the second half by the home side, only to finish the game on top in the final quarter.
Dominic McEnhill was the star man for Antrim with a scoring haul of 1-6, the goal coming courtesy of a first half penalty.
Antrim led by six at the break, but Limerick struck back with two goals in the second half through Iain Corbett and Tommie Childs. However, Ruairi McCann hit the net for Antrim 40 seconds after that second goal to go four clear.
The Saffrons had the advantage of a strong breeze in the first half and led 0-4 to 0-2 after 18 minutes with Eoin Hands, Michael Byrne, Dermot McAleese and Niall Burnes all hitting the target.
Corbett and Peter Nash responded for Limerick.
McEnhill got his first point that stretched their lead to three and then landed a penalty on 21 minutes after an error from Limerick keeper Aaron O’Sullivan.
The same man then landed a point that was followed by one from McCann that saw Antrim seven up heading into the final minutes of the half.
Limerick did manage to cut that gap to six at the break with Tommie and Bob Childs hitting the target to see the half time score at 1-7 to 0-4.
O’Sullivan, from a '45, and Corbett from play got the second half scoring underway and then Limerick earned a penalty of their own after Childs was fouled with Corbett firing to the net to make it a one-point game.
Antrim responded to that superbly with the next three points to go four clear only for the impressive Childs providing a top corner finish to the net after a kick-out error.
However, Antrim responded from the very next attack with McCann providing a cool finish to the bottom right corner after a devastating attack.
Antrim saw out the game from then on with McEnhill leading the charge. He, along with Ronan Boyle, got scores late on that sealed a hard earned seven-point winning margin.
Limerick: A O'Sullivan (0-01 ‘45); T McCarthy, S O'Dea, B O'Sullivan; C McSweeney, B Childs (0-01), P Maher; T Childs (1-01) , T Griffin; I Corbett (1-02, 1-00 pen), J Naughton, C Fahy (0-01); B Coleman, D Daly, P Nash (0-01 mark).
Subs: E Rigter for Naughton (28, inj), E Hurley for Daly (35), C Downes for Griffin (44), A Meade for Nash (63).
Antrim: M Byrne (0-02, 0-02f); R Boyle (0-01), E Walsh, K Keenan;, P McBride, J Finnegan, C McLarnon; D McAleese (0-01), P McAleer; C McGettigan, E Hynds (0-01), R McCann (1-02); M Jordan, N Byrnes (0-01), D McEnhill (1-06, 1-00 pen, 0-04f).
Subs: C Hand for Boyle (69), D Lynch for McAleese (71), B Kelly for McAleer (73).
Referee: S Lonergan (Tipperary).
