By Brendan McTaggart
It was another case of ‘what might have been’ for Antrim on Sunday afternoon in Parnell Park as their search for league points continues. A slow start, a decent 15-minute period in the first half followed Dublin superiority until the last 10 of the 70. To walk away with a three-point defeat knowing they had so much more to offer is hugely disappointing.
After the game, Antrim manager Darren Gleeson wasn’t looking for silver linings of threads of hope that would make the waiting questions easier to deal with from the media: “It would be easy for me to stand here and focus on the last 15 or 20 minutes, that’s the easy out. What happened in the preceding 50 wasn’t up to scratch or what we are looking for. We didn’t play with any real intensity; we didn’t lay a glove on them physically in the middle section of the field.”
Too often Dublin had time in the middle third to pick a pass inside or go for scores from long range. Hugely frustrating periods of play given the Saffrons lack of accuracy in front of the target. They were having to work overtime to get a yard of space and a tally of 16 wides overall is a fairly damning stat. The introduction of Joe Maskey on 47 minutes gave them something different in attack but as Gleeson alluded to, you can’t gift quality opposition time and space at this level: “Dublin dictated that middle section. We made a few changes, Conal out to the middle with Paul Boyle bringing some good energy in there and Joe giving us a focal point but prior to that it was disappointing.
“A lot of ball went in there (forward line). At this level you can’t hit six or seven short to a goalkeeper. It’s like giving a ball to a quarter-back now, he’s a really good goalie is young Gibbons (Eddie). If you give it to the quarter back and he feeds it out, you’re on the back foot straight away because you’re out of shape. Throw 14 or 15 wides on top of that along with a couple of goal chances, it’s a fair summarisation I’d say.”
It’s the second game running where the Saffrons have left the field of play disappointed in what they produced, knowing a positive result was within their grasp. Winning games at this level and digging out results, producing 70 minute performances is something that Gleeson will have to instil in this squad of players, how he does that is the burning question: “I’d love to know (how to do it). We’re digging into it all the time. It’s something we really need to stay at. It’s something we really need to pick up on. And what happens when we get big scores in the game as well. We got a crucial goal, tighten things and bring some nerves on their end to bring it back to six but they got the next few scores. Straight away from restarts, number 12 (Cian Boland) was standing there on his own, that’s disappointing. At reset there’s a change of mentality but you learn playing at the highest level and you have to learn quick.
“It’s consistency the whole way through the game and teams dictating the shape against us instead of us dictating the shape of the game. But look we’ll look at it and see what we can do. It’s not for the want of trying, the hard part at the end was good, the guys showing a bit of pride but the score board is all that matters.”
The Saffrons have a free weekend before travelling to Dungarvan to take on an in-form Waterford side who are now under the management of David Fitzgerald. Gleeson said they will be relishing the opportunity to come up against a side the calibre of the Deise: “I look at it one day at a time but that’s the next bit of homework for us. Waterford will be a big task down in Dungarvan, obviously they have a stellar team but that’s what we want to be doing. We’d rather be going testing ourselves against that.”
Overall, those last ten minutes in Parnell will be what Antrim followers will cling on to. Against Kilkenny and for probably 50 minutes against Dublin, they never looked like scoring a goal yet they could have came away with four if not five majors. Neil McManus’ first effort superbly saved by Eddie Gibbons while he was desperately unlucky to see an effort canon back off the cross bar minutes later.
Conal Bohill’s move to midfield is something Gleeson and his back room team may look to explore further. He was influential in those closing stages and again, could have found the back of the net in the dying minutes.
Defensively, Ryan McGarry and Paddy Burke were excellent once again while Michael Bradley put in another monumental shift. For Antrim to start getting more out of these games however, they need to compete more in the middle third. Kilkenny and Dublin have had plenty of time to pick passes and you just can’t get away with that at this level. Doing basics at restarts, put the opposition under pressure. Gleeson hit the nail on the head when he mentioned Gibbons restarts, it put Antrim on the back foot. Picking a free player from 60 yards is like giving away free scores and when you consider the Dubs hit 15 wides themselves, they will be looking for plenty of improvement also.
Waterford will be another huge challenge in two weeks time. Davy Fitz in his second spell in charge on the south east coast and a man who knows plenty about the game in Antrim. It will be a fascinating game once more but Antrim have plenty of work to do between now and then.