Antrim captain Eoghan Campbell left to rue 'heartbreak' of defeat to Dublin

Antrim captain Eoghan Campbell felt his side gifted Dublin victory as the Saffrons attempted to take some positives from the thrilling conclusion to the Allianz Hurling League Division 1B clash at Corrigan Park.

The home side were set to win the clash only for an error from goalkeeper Tiernan Smyth in stoppage time which saw the ball across his own line for what proved to be the crucial goal.

It denied Antrim a breakthrough in the league with Campbell feeling they had thrown away a winning position and need to learn how to close out a game.

He felt Dublin "stole" the two points but they only had themselves to blame.

Speaking to RTÉ Sport, he said: "It was a horrible way to lose. We shouldn't have put ourselves in the situation (where a goal could swing the game). There was a bit of breeze with us in the second half and we went three points up. We have that tendency that once we go three up we don't go four and five.

"We let them get a few easy points. It's disheartening but if you look at last week there was only a 20 or 25-minute performance in us. Today we gave it everything for 65, 70, almost 80 minutes. It's a building step for us. That's how we'll look at it.

"We should have beat them, there is no doubt about that. They stole it from us. But hurling doesn't give you anything. You have to earn it, you have to take it off them and we just didn't do that. That's the way it is. We'll pick it up and go again in two weeks.

"You take the heartbreak and the only way to get over it is to get on the bandwagon. With the league and the way the standings are next year, we do have one eye on Championship. We're building towards it. But when you're in your home ground with your fans behind you, you do want to win. It is what it is and