Paddy McIlwaine reflects on Antrim loss to Donegal on penalties in Ballybofey
Like the Antrim faithful who made their way to Ballybofey on Wednesday night, I suspect the trip home was reflected in disappointment at the result itself but also the realisation that we could and should have beaten Donegal at MacCumhaill Park.
I shared that disappointment with my colleague Frank Delargy who, by all accounts did a terrific job as an annalist on the live stream, and who kindly offered me a lift to the game.
Niall Jackman, the Antrim manager stated during the week that he was sick of being tagged as ‘Glorious Losers’ and for many that will be the analogy of Wednesday night’s result but Antrim’s performance in Ballybofey deserves to be remembered for much-much more.
Jackman and his team of Matthew Gribbin, Aaron Douglas, Stephen Bateson and Paddy Kelly have put a lot of work into this group under difficult conditions at time and that work was certainly reflected in the performance if not the final result.
After a slow start Antrim settled from 0-3 to 0-1 down to draw level at 0-4 to 0-4 at half time and were the better side for most of the game. It was one that got away from us, not once but twice as we led 0-9 to 0-7 going into the final five minutes before being caught on the line.
A sterling extra time performance saw Antrim lead 0-5 to 0-2 midway through the second half but again we let it slip and this will probably be the biggest disappointment.
And so it became a lottery of a penalty shootout and unfortunately we came out on the wrong side of a nail biting finally but sometimes that’s the way the card falls.
Fine margins often decide games at this level and fine margins certainly decided this and while I don’t like to criticise referees, there was a number of decisions that went against us that might have made the difference.
The positives we should take from this game is that Antrim had a team who performed admirably on the night and in this panel there looks to be quite a number of players who can make the step up to senior level in the not too distant future.
I’m not going to name individuals for, to a man this team were terrific and Niall Jackman, his backroom staff and the players themselves should hold their heads high.
I hope this management team can stay together and continue with the fine job they are doing and after the disappointment of Wednesday night subsides they should take heart from the sterling job they have done.
I only got the opportunity to see them once in the Ulster league when they defeated Down at Dunsilly and that Down side went to Omagh on Wednesday night and beat a fancied Tyrone by four points.
Antrim also recorded a win over Cavan in a friendly last week and that Cavan team ran a strong Monaghan to four points on the same night so at this level fine margins make the difference.
To conclude, as first and foremost an Antrim supporter, I was very proud of the performance they put in at MacCumhaill Park while sharing the disappointment and indeed disbelief that we had been beaten.
Glorious losers indeed but this time it felt that like a moral victory!
