Surprise and delight as Antrim prepare for arrival of Davy Fitzgerald

Neil McManus hopes for more Belfast representation for Antrim in the future, but he's excited to see what Davy Fitzgerald can do to build the current squad in the coming years.

Fitzgerald's appointment was confirmed early this week to end speculation that the 53-year-old might be taking over the hurlers of the other capital city on the island.

The appointment of the man who won two Celtic Crosses as a goalkeeper for Clare before leading the Banner to the ultimate prize in 2013, coupled with Wexford's only Leinster title for Wexford in the last 20 years, reflects the current ambition of Antrim GAA.

The Saffrons beat the Yellowbellies and Carlow in this year's provincial campaign but ultimately couldn't crack the top four in Leinster as they lost out to Galway, Dublin and champions Kilkenny to finish fifth.

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Their placing means that they avoided relegation and so we can look forward to a tantalising meeting of Wexford and Antrim in the south-east next April or May.

"It came as a surprise that he was interested in the job," McManus said on RTÉ's Sunday Sport.

"But whenever he had been nominated for the post, and he had let his feelings be known that he wanted the job, I think we were all of the notion that he would get it.

"The track record that he has as an All-Ireland winning manager with Clare as a Munster [Championship] winning manager with Waterford and as a Leinster [Championship] winning manager with Wexford really speaks for itself.

"He has a huge CV, a massive amount of