Ulster MFC
Monaghan v Antrim (Iniskeen 8-00)
Antrim face a baptism of fire when they take on Monaghan in the first round of the Ulster Minor Football Championship in Iniskeen tonight. Monaghan generously agreed to switch the game from Saturday to accommodate dual players on the Antrim panel with the Saffrons due to play Kildare tomorrow in the Electric Ireland Leinster MHC.
The Monaghan generosity is likely to end there however and on the face of it this one looks like a banker for the home side despite being without their captain, Sean Callan who has been ruled out because of a hamstring injury.
Monaghan manager Mark Counihan was wholesome in his praise of Callan but confident that his side will have too much for Paul McErlean’s Saffrons who they inflicted a heavy defeat on in an Ulster League clash a few weeks ago.
The team had a challenging league campaign when they lost their four games v Armagh, Down, Tyrone and tonight’s opponents, Monaghan, in a heavy defeat at Musgrave Park, three weeks ago. Neither team will be reading too much into that game though and the Antrim team lining out this evening shows a number of changes from the one selected for that game. However, no doubt, it will be a tough challenge for the young Saffrons but their preparations under joint Managers, Barry Burns and Paul McErlean and coaches, Niall Enright and Matthew Gribbin, has been very thorough since last October and in challenge games v Dublin, Galway, Louth, Derry and Fermanagh, the team showed that they have the players and ability to potentially spring a surprise this evening. The team is captained by Moneyglass’s Tiarnan McCormick, a Rannafast Cup winner, alongside his clubmate, Sean Boyd with St Patrick’s Maghera this year. Moneyglass’s Paul Duffin and Cargin’s Conhuir Johnston also had success in the MacRory Cup this year and they will be two important performers for the Saffrons tonight. The midfield is anchored by Manus McCrossan from St Gall’s and has strength down the middle with Niall Hynds from Glenravel, a third Hynds brother to line out for a county football team this year, starting at number 14. Another younger sibling, Ciaran McAleese, from Portglenone lines out in the full forward line, while the star of last year’s St Brigid’s u15 championship success, James Blaney, starts in the half forward line.
17 points separated tonight’s protagonists when they met at Musgrave Park on that occasion and Antrim failed to win any of their four Ulster League games but should have a stronger panel available for tonight’s encounter.
Moneyglass and St. Brigid’s have strong representation on the Antrim panel and while turning over a 17 point defeat may look a big ask I would expect pride in the jersey to bring Antrim much closer to the Farney lads though a win looks unlikely.