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Ballycastle boss Cian Waldron has blasted the scheduling of the Antrim U21 championship which has contributed to his side being without three top young players. ‘The Town’ lined out in their senior hurling championship opener against Loughgiel missing Cian Baudant, Orann Donnelly, and Conor Donnelly. Defenders Baudant and Orann Donnelly sustained cruciate knee ligament damage during their run to the U21 Final while forward Conor Donnelly also suffered a very bad hamstring tear. “See that under-21 championship in the month before the senior hurling? It’s absolutely ridiculous. “You have Orann Donnelly, Cian Baudant, and Conor Donnelly all out for us. Darragh [Donnelly] just about made it today.” Waldron noted that other clubs have lost young talent to injuries too: “You’ve Fiontan Bradley not playing with Cushendall. Two or three out for Glenariffe. “The best young hurlers in Antrim are not playing because we’re playing a championship in the month before the senior championship. “There’s no other county that takes hurling seriously that does that. And it’s not because we’re smarter. It’s definitely not what the reason is.” The Antrim U21 ‘A’ Hurling Championship was played off inside a fortnight, in three consecutive midweek slots, from Wednesday July 22 to Wednesday August 5. Ballycastle went hard for the U21 title, reaching the final before their under-strength side lost heavily to holders Cushendall. “We had a good team with everybody and we were trying to win it,” acknowledges Waldron. “But you’re also trying to get ready for a senior championship. “You can’t put a championship match [U21] in the Wednesday before the game. “All the studies show that rest and recuperation stop cruciates. And here we’re playing a championship match on a Wednesday. “We have to play challenge matches at the weekend. You have to train at the weekend because you’re getting ready for a senior championship. So it’s nonsensical. “Did they do it in Kilkenny, Clare, Dublin, Limerick? No. Why? For that reason. So I don’t understand why we do it.” The intense schedule proved too much for some of the young McQuillan’s stars, recounts Waldron: “Now, look, I know that’s a bit of a rant. But it’s very, very frustrating because Cian Badaunt and Orann Donnelly worked really hard all year. “And then both of them, in a week, in two under-21 championship matches [damaged their cruciates]. “One is a fluke. Two is a pattern. “And then Conor Donnelly pulled the hamstring off himself in another under-21 championship match as well.” The manager notes that advice on restricting workloads on players in their teens and early 20s is well-known: “Younger lads have had a hard season playing colleges, under-20 club, under-20 Antrim, club. It’s just a tough season. “Then you put another championship game in it.” Waldron also rejected a theory that Ballycastle hurt their own Championship chances last season by placing too much focus on the League: “There’s a bit of a narrative out there about us that last year we went hard for the league. It’s not really true. “From the last league game [in 2025], we lost our entire half-forward line. Niall McKenna was injured for the full season last year. “We were very competitive in the league last year - and then we had just a spate of injuries and it punctured us last year. “So we spent a lot of time building a bigger squad - and we still have injuries. But the lads who are there are really competitive.” On that point, Waldron was pleased with much of his side’s performance against the strongly-fancied Shamrocks: “I’m really happy because I thought there was a lot of disrespectful stuff said about us last year and this year in the build-up to the game. “There was a lot of talk that the ‘big game’ was Friday night [between champions St John’s and Rossa]. “This is Ballycastle and Loughgiel - and if you were paying attention and did your research you would know that we were going to be competitive.” The winning of Sunday’s match was the 1-4 scored by the Shamrocks straight after the re-start, but Ballycastle’s response to that delighted Waldron: “Once we went eight down it was a real test of character - and we got back to three. We could have fallen flat on our face. “But it’s very difficult against a team who are seasoned and everything. You can’t give them that seven- or eight-point lead because they’ll just keep tipping away. That’s what they did. “But I’m very happy with a lot of the performances. It puts us in good stead now.” Waldron only rued his side’s sloppy start, and Loughgiel’s sharpness out of the blocks after the re-start, which decided the outcome in the visitors’ favour: “I knew we would be competitive, but when you’re playing a team that is looking at winning a county championship, you have to be 60 minutes of concentration - and we slipped for five and we got really punished. “Look, it’s a big learning curve and we have to learn from it. But really happy with the application, really happy with our defensive performance, especially structure. “It was a tough game to get scores in. Even for them, they scored 1-4 in five minutes and then the rest of the game is pretty even. “I’m very proud of the way they played and we’re all on the next few weeks. We’re really looking forward to it.” Next up are the holders, at the neutral venue of Ballymena on the afternoon of Saturday August 29, before the McQuillan’s finish up away to Rossa. Waldron knows how tough those games will be: “The Johnnies especially, they put up big scores. Even the other night, they probably won’t be happy with how they played, but they scored a lot. “I went to Belfast, it was great occasion – I hadn’t been at a Belfast derby before, it was brilliant. There was a good crowd at Corrigan, really nice evening. “They’re county champions and they showed why the other night. They never panicked, kept tipping away at the scores, and turned the whole thing, despite going in against the wind and down. “I think Oisin Donnelly and Conor Johnson will be back, so they’re going to be stronger again.” A top three finish, at least, is required to progress from what is a daunting Group 1, as Waldron spells out: “It’s the two county finalists [from 2025], the two best teams in the Antrim [St John’s and Loughgiel], and the two teams that finished third last year in their groups [Rossa and Ballycastle] all against each other. It’s very competitive.” That word again – and Waldron insists it applies to his McQuillan’s men: “We’ll get the bodies ready. We know we’re competitive. “For 55 minutes we were step for step with the favourites to win the county championship.”