Having lost to Donegal in the first round of the Ulster football championship in 2011, things weren’t looking too bright for Liam Bradley’s Saffron’s but Antrim picked themselves up of the ground to put a couple of descent results together in the qualifiers before falling heavily to Down in Round 3.
We were at Casement Park for Antrim’s opening game in Round 1 against Westmeath. It was a good day for Antrim Gaels with their hurlers featuring in a double bill which saw them defeat Carlow in Round 2 of the All Ireland Hurling Championship to record a memorable double.
All Ireland Football qualifiers-Round 1
Antrim 0-16 Westmeath 1-7
All Ireland Football Qualifiers 2011
Longevity is something that always impresses me about GAA men and as I looked back at some of the photographs from this game I noted that players like Michael McCann, Paddy Cunningham, Conor Murray, Kevin O’Boyle Tomas McCann, and Ricki and Martin Johnston were in the Antrim side that defeated Westmeath that day and all were involved in last year’s panel while Justin Crozier has returned to the panel following a few years absence.
Antrim’s footballers came back from conceding an early goal against Westmeath at Casement Park to win their first-round qualifier in style. The Lake County couldn’t take advantage of their promising start but Antrim reacted well and led 0-8 to 1-3 at the break. Westmeath did level matters in the second half but, despite the introduction of Dessie Dolan, the Saffrons had enough to hold on.
