Allianz Football League Division Three
Antrim 2-5 Offaly 1-7
Antrim withstood a late sustained rally by visitors Offaly to make it two from two in the Allianz Football League in swirling and blustery conditions in front of a good crowd at Corrigan Park on Sunday.
The Saffrons, with the elements in their favour in the opening half, raced into a seven point lead as half time approached but they were hit by a goal from Anton O’Sullivan in the 34th minute to cut the gap to four at the halfway stage.
It was Antrim who opened brightly in the difficult conditions and points from Eoin Hynds and Niall Burns had them two in front by the 12th minute before corner-back, Ronan Boyle finished to the net to give the home side a five point lead after being set up by Eunan Walsh.
Marc Jordan raced clear for an Antrim point in the 16th minute before Cian Farrell finally got Offaly off the mark with point in the 19th and 25th minutes to cut the gap to four.
Antrim pressed and Offaly keeper, Ian Duffy brought down Dominic McEnhill as he bore down on goal with McEnhill gathering himself up to convert the spot kick and Duffy lucky not to receive a Black card.
The home side suffered a setback as half time approached when they gave away possession around mid-field and the visitors countered swiftly with O’Sullivan firing to the top corner of Mick Byrne’s net to leave four between the sides at the break.
It was the only time in the game that danger man O’Sullivan escaped the clutches of his marker, Kavan Keenan and the Ballymena man’s running battle with his Rhode counterpart was a feature of the game
Conditions continued to deteriorate on the restart with the rain now driving across the field in the second period, but Antrim pushed on with a Michael Byrne free and a Niall Burns converted free.
Ruairi McNamee pulled one back for the Faithful county but Antrim looked comfortable entering the final quarter when leading by five, but Conor Hand was shown Red following a flare up and Offaly took advantage.
Nigel Dunne began the comeback with a beauty and Jordan Hayes followed with another seconds later.
Antrim were now fighting a rear guard action as the visitors continued to press.
Their tails were up but they were dealt a blow of their own on 64 minutes as Jack Bryant was shown black just two minutes after he had been introduced, for a body check on Eunan Walsh.
Still, they continued to press as a couple of promising looking Antrim breakaways failed to provide a score with Dominic McEnhill’s effort blocked for a ‘45’ that came to nothing and Paddy McBride running out of steam after a lung bursting run from defence.
Offaly narrowed the gap to the minimum entering stoppage time through Dunne and McNamee, but they couldn’t find an equaliser with a couple of efforts tailing wide as Antrim hung on for their second win from two starts.
“We’d two breakaways at the end when you could say there were goals on offer and we didn’t take anything from them,” McEntee reflected.
“Usually when you don’t take chances like that you pay the price, but thankfully we got across the line.”
A year ago Offaly faced Sunday’s opponents at the same venue and left with a six point win and it’s perhaps a mark of the resilience that McEntee has built into his side that they held on to avenge that result on Sunday.
Next up for Antrim is Down in two weeks-time at the same venue and the Meath man will be hoping to have a few of his ever increasing injured list available for a game that would put them in a strong position if they were to defeat one of the favourites for promotion.
Antrim: M Byrne (0-1 f); R Boyle (1-0), E Walsh, K Keenan; M Jordan (0-1), J Finnegan, D McAleese; C McLarnon, P McAleer; E Hynds (0-1), N Burns (0-2, 1 f), R McCann (Creggan); P McBride, C McGettigan, D McEnhill 1-0
Subs: C Hand for C McGettigan (48), D Lynch for D McAleese (70+3), O Doherty for N Burns (70+3)
Offaly: I Duffy; A Bracken, D Dempsey, L Pearson; R Egan, J Furlong, J O’Brien; M Tynan, J Hayes (0-1); P Cunningham, R McNamee (0-2), C Egan; C Farrell (0-2, 1 f), A Sullivan (1-0), K O’Neill.
Subs: N Dunne (0-2) for C Farrell (45), K McDermott for R Egan (53), J Bryant for K O’Neill (64)
Referee: P Faloon (Down)
