Antrim survived a late surge from Carlow at Corrigan Park to remain undefeated in this year’s Joe McDonagh Cup, leaving the Barrowsiders to rue what could have been an away victory, if not for their ill-discipline.
The Glensmen weren’t short on confidence coming into this tie after an impressive opening day in Navan, and they came out firing on all cylinders.
Neil McManus opened the Saffrons account with a score in the first minute, and a blistering run from Nigel Elliott down the right wing resulted in the first goal of the game after just three minutes.
Terence McNaughton's charges established a 1-03 lead before Denis Murphy could register Carlow's first score after nine minutes of play.
Nigel Elliott had sight of a second goal after carving through midfield to find himself one on one with Brian Tracey, but hesitated before taking the shot on, and was soon swarmed by the Carlow defence.
While the hosts continued to apply pressure moving forward, James Doyle broke down the right wing for Colm Bonner's men.
But with the goal in his sights he was brought down by a high challenge from Eoin Campbell, which was deemed a red card offence and reduced Antrim to 14 men after half an hour of play.
Despite a one man deficit, Antrim went in with a five point cushion at the break.
Parity was restored in the second half when, after much deliberation from the officials, Jack Kavanagh was shown a straight red for an off the ball altercation.
After a series of cagey exchanges, the break finally came for Antrim on 54 minutes when a scintillating run from Elliott down the right wing allowed McManus to fire home a second goal, and seemingly put the game to bed.
The referee once again had a red card to hand, this time for Diarmuid Byrne after a head on collision with Simon McCrory, and things went from bad to worse for the visitors, who were reduced to 12 men when Richard Coady earned a red for a full blooded challenge on Neil McManus, who was subsequently subbed due to injury.
14 minutes of extra time and the absence of talisman McManus allowed Carlow to stage a late surge and showcase the resilience that saw them reel in Kerry last weekend, but Antrim, despite making it hard work for themselves, held on to win 2-16 to 0-19.
Antrim – Ryan Elliott, Stephen Rooney, John Dillon, Conor McKinley, Joe Maskey (0-01), Paddy Burke, Ryan McCambridge, Eoghan Campbell (0-01), Simon McCrory, Nigel Elliott (1-02), Conor Johnston (0-01, 0-01f), Neil McManus (1-01) (0-07f), Donal McKinley, Michael Armstrong (0-01), Conor McCann
Used Subs – James McNaughton for McKinley (48), Eddie McCloskey (0-01) for McCann (59), David Kearney for Maskey (62), Conor Carson for McManus (67), Neal McAuley for McCambridge (79)
Carlow – Brian Tracey, Alan Corcoran, Paul Doyle, Michael Doyle, Richard Coady (RED), David English, Ross Smithers, Jack Kavanagh, Kevin McDonald, Paul Coady, Diarmuid Byrne (0-02) (RED), Edward Byrne, James Doyle (0-01), Denis Murphy (0-07f) (0-03), John Michael (0-01f, 0-01)
Used Subs – Conor Foley (0-02) for Paul Coady, Chris Nolan (0-02) for Smithers (45), Dion Wall for Michael Doyle (64), Jack Murphy on for Byrne (63)
