Ulster SFC Quarter-Final
Down v Antrim
Newry 6-00pm Saturday
For yet another year Antrim are forced to hit the road for the opening round of the Ulster Senior Football Championship. On Saturday night Pairc Esler in Newry is the venue for their latest outing and it is a game that many Saffron fans are looking forward to.
This one I feel Antrim have a strong chance of winning and despite an 8 point defeat to Saturday’s opponents Down in the league earlier in the season I believe it is a game where we are in with a strong shout.
The last time the side’s met at Saturday’s venue was early in the league on the 4th February 2023 in Andy McEntee’s early days as Antrim manager and it is a game that Antrim should have won.
Leading by five with time almost up Antrim somehow managed to concede defeat from the jaws of victory with Down finishing with a late-late rally to edge out the Saffrons on a scoreline of 2-18 to 2-17.
A year earlier Antrim travelled to the same venue and recorded 1-12 to 1-10 victory over Saturday night’s opponents so the ‘Marshes’ should hold no fear for McEntee’s side.
That loss to down at Corrigan in this year’s NFL Division 3 saw Down finish with a late rally to win comfortably in the end but for long periods in the game Antrim gave as good as they got but just couldn’t finish and were made to pay the price.
Down went on to contest the division 2 final against Westmeath where they lost to the Lake County and a team that had looked unbeatable during their league campaign began to look vulnerable for the first time this season.
Prior to that Antrim secured division 3 survival with a win over Wicklow at Corrigan Park with the Saffrons finishing their campaign with six points in a season riddled with serious injuries.
To add to the intrigue, that same Wicklow side beat Westmeath in the opening round of the Leinster championship and Antrim can take confidence from that result as they travel to Newry looking for their first win in the Ulster championship for some time.
Manager Andy McEntee has nothing but praise for his side in his second year in charge and is confident that Antrim can cause an upset on Saturday night at Pairc Esler.
In a season riddled with injuries the former Meath player and manager wants to focus on the positives.
“If we had lost to Wicklow in the final game of the league it would have been difficult to get the side motivated but to be fair they have been great. They have worked tirelessly and we will see where it brings us against Down” said the Antrim manger.
Just where Antrim are in regards to injuries is not known but Dermot McAleese and Ruair McCann of Creggan were the latest to pick up knocks in that game against Wicklow and both were substituted against Oisin McConville’s side.
Cathal Hynds returned to replace the suspended Colm McLarnon in the Antrim mid-field and the Glenravel man showed little effects when he missed nearly all of the National League after being injured early in the McKenna Cup against Monaghan and will be a big plus for the Antrim management.
Just who else will be available for Saturday night is not known at the time of writing but Mick Byrne, Declan Lynch, Eunan Walsh, Kavan Keenan, Marc Jordan, Dermot McAleese, Joe Finnegan, Ronan Boyle, Paddy McBride, the two Ruairi McCann’s and Dominic McEnhill are all expected to start.
Glenravel’s Ryan McQuillan made his first start against Wicklow and turned in a sterling performance, hitting 0-4 and he with Conor Hand, Eoin Hynds, Cormac McGettigan and Niall Burns could all see some action at Pairc Esler.
Paddy McAleer has missed out with a recurring injury lately after being involved earlier in the Saffrons division 3 league campaign but could be close to fitness and may feature at some stage against Down and his experience would be a big plus for Antrim.
Down are a side that can hurt opponents if they are allowed to play their fast moving and short passing football game and in Pat Havern, Ceilum Doherty, James Guinness, Oisin Savage, Liam Kerr and Odhran Murdock they have players who can do damage if given the space.
The Mourne side showed how dangerous they can be during that final quarter at Corrigan in the league when they finished strongly to outscore Antrim by 1-7 to 0-1 during the run in to keep their 100% league record intact.
As we saw last year in Newry and in 2022 in the McKenna Cup at the same venue Antrim are capable of matching their neighbours and if they can produce their best performance then I give them every chance of upsetting the odds to come away from the Marshes with a win on Saturday night.
