Allianz NFL Division 3
Antrim v Down
Corrigan Park-Sunday 2.00pm
Few, if any fixtures in the Antrim football calendar attract attention as much as the Saffrons meeting with neighbours Down and this Sunday’s clash in the National League at Corrigan Park is sure to attract a bumper crowd to the Whiterock Road.
A year ago Antrim travelled to the ‘Marshes’ to meet Sunday’s opponents in Round 2 of the league as rank outsiders and came within a whisker of causing an upset when they led by five going into the final stages of the game.
A Conor Poland goal and late points from Liam Kerr, Pat Havern and Andrew Gilmore saw the Mourne men snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and sentenced Antrim to their second defeat in two outings.
A week earlier the Saffrons had suffered defeat to Offaly at Corrigan Park and that defeat in Newry more or less put paid to their promotion aspirations before the league had really got underway.
Antrim travelled to Tipperary in Round 3 and finally got their first win of the season but their only other win would come at home to Cavan in Round 6 though their performances were descent in most of their other league outings.
Both Antrim and Down were in the early stages of new management with Andy McEntee having taken up the Antrim reigns and Conor Laverty, the Kilcoo legend, the new man in charge of the Red & Blacks.
Down went on to collect 10 points in the 2023 campaign but would lose out to Cavan on score difference for the second promotion place.
Both Antrim and Down have made impressive starts to this year’s NFL campaign with Antrim travelling to Limerick in round 1 and coming away with a seven point win before avenging last year’s defeat to Offaly in Belfast on the 4th of February.
Meanwhile Down have got their 2024 campaign off to a flier as they beat Wicklow by five points in Aughrim and followed it up with an emphatic win over Limerick in Newry.
So both sides go into Sunday’s meeting on the Whiterock on a high and while it’s early days, the result could have a Major bearing on promotion come the end of the season but for the here and now, both managers will be concentrating on Sunday’s game.
The Antrim camp have been decimated by injuries from the side who took part in that agonising defeat in Newry last year but Andy McEntee has successfully introduced a number of new faces to the panel this year.
Kevin Small, Conor Stewart, Pat Shivers, Jack Dowling, Adam Loughran, Peter Healey, Patrick Finnegan, Ryan Murray, James McAuley and Ruairi McCann (Aghagallon) are some of the players who saw action in the Marshes in 2023 while Dermott McAleese sustained a serious shoulder injury that saw him miss the rest of the 2023 season.
Thankfully McAleese has made a successful return as team captain this year but none of the above mentioned have figured in the league to date though the majority are still around the panel and at various stages of recovery.
McEntee will be hoping that McCann, who scored two goals in Newry last year will be able to play some part on Sunday but at the time of writing it is unclear if any of the afore mentioned will be available.
The Meath native and his backroom staff have taken the appropriate action as they have introduced a number of new faces to the panel while promoting a number of others from the panel and to date the results have been encouraging.
The Antrim supremo has pulled off something of a master stroke by converting former half-back, Eunan Walsh to the problem full-back birth while Kavan Keenan, Niall Burns and Eoin Hynds have grabbed their opportunity as the new faces in the side.
Hynds’ brother Cathal and Cormac McGettigan are the latest to have fallen to the injury curse this year but the return of Paddy McAleer after an extended absence through injury and the scoring form of Dominic McEnhill have been major factors in Antrim’s success to date.
Down will travel to Corrigan in confident mood. Ollie Murdock struck two identical penalties against Limerick last day out and Daniel Guinness scored a third while Pat Havern converted five frees and Liam Kerr was also impressive.
Conor Laverty’s side started last year’s encounter in Newry as 1/8 favourites in some of the bookmakers and while those odds are likely to have improved considerably the smart money still looks to be on Down.
The improvement in Antrim since McEntee has taken over cannot be underestimated however and Antrim supporters should turn up in numbers on Sunday, confident that their sides are capable of overturning last year’s defeat.
Antrim v Offaly: 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)
Down v Limerick: J O’Hare; P Fegan (0-1), R McEvoy, J Flynn; P Laverty, D Guinness (1-1), C Francis; O Murdock (2-3, 2-0 pens), N McParland; R Mason, L Kerr (0-3, 0-1 free), S Johnston (0-2); C Mooney, P Havern (0-5 frees), O Savage (0-1) Subs: S Annett for C Mooney (h/t), A Doherty for N McParland (45), A Gilmore for O Savage (45), G Collins for C Francis (55), K Anderson for J O’Hare (57)