Antrim 2 – 09 v 0 – 10 Kerry
Antrim Masters made the long trek to Annanough GAC, Vicarstown, County Laois on Saturday, with Kerry the opposition for a place in this years prestigious Dr Mick Loftus shield final.
Kerry are one of the premium names in this increasingly prestigious sector, and have been consistently competing at the top table since the inception of Gaelic Masters. Antrim by comparison are a county making progress but remain alien to competing at the business end of the elite tier competitions. Therefore there was no shortage of motivation for the progressive Saffrons, who were also aiming to amend the narrow defeat at the hand of the Kingdom in last years elite section playoff, which took extra time to decide the outcome.
This time round the Saffron county made no mistake, taking the game to their illustrious opponents from the outset and matched them all over the pitch in terms of fitness and ability. The men from the North Eastern part of Ireland looked a much hungrier outfit than those from the South West, a spirit typified by captain Michael Herron who led by example from the throw in.
An early Michael McCarry point settled Saffron nerves but when Niall Sweeney fed Kevin McAllister with an ideally placed diagonal pass and the Dunloy man finished to the net past Kerry custodian Martin Hewitt, the team considered by many to be outsiders in this contest had suddenly extended their lead to four.
It took Kerry ten minutes to open their account, but two points in succession from Thomas McGoldrick and Jeremy King narrowed the deficit and then Hewitt knocked over a fine 45 as the game reached the fifteen minute mark and the first water break. In between these scores however the mercurial Kieran Close was starting to influence proceedings, two individual efforts resulting in white flags that kept the Saffrons ticking over nicely in the lead.
The exchanges were hard and fair, though things did threaten to escalate on a number of occasions, neither team taking a backward step and equally motivated to succeed.
Substitute Liam Cassley marked his introduction to the game with a fine solo effort and the All Saints man would go on to make a firm impression as the game wore on. At half time Antrim led by four points, and on the balance of play that was fair enough.
Cassley extended that gap to five early upon the restart, and although Kerry corner forward McGoldrick knocked over a fine effort at the other end to keep the scoreboard ticking over, that man Close made it five up to the Saffrons a minute later.
Ryan Boyd Barry McMahon and Ken Golden were playing their shirts off in the midfield third, gaining vital possession and enabling plenty of quality ball into a lively full forward line where Michael McCarry and Kevin McAllister were thriving. Then when All Saints man Damien Kelly supplied club mate Cassley with an excellent point opportunity, and it looked like a score was certain, the unselfish Cassley slipped the ball to the better positioned Kieran Close who rolled the ball neatly into the corner of the Kerry net and all of a sudden Antrim were seven points to the good.
A quarter of the match remained though and it was then Kerry got their long awaited spell of domination. Wing half forward Jeremy King was one of Kerry’s most impressive performers and when he struck two quickfire points from distance, neutrals in the crowd would be forgiven for thinking this game was far from over. King again, and then two in a row from the excellent feet of full forward Colm Brosnan, all within a three minute spell there was once again little to separate the teams.
Kerry’s playmaker Terry OSullivan was well marshalled throughout by Antrim’s outstanding Stephen O’Connell, but when he did finally break those shackles and found himself through on goal it took a superb intervention from Antrim stalwart midfielder Ken Golden to deny the Keel man.
Kerry pressed hard to get the deficit to the minimum as both teams threw all they had at it, exchanges varying from hard and fair to what can only be described at times as feisty. Quite simply the game was in the melting pot, and it was a case of who could gain the upper hand going down the final stretch.
Would the Kingdom do what they do, close out tight knit games and come out on the right side, or would this Antrim team that had gone toe to toe for almost an hour find another length or two and somehow find a way to close out a famous result and the possibility of a first ever win for their county against Kerry.
With Colly Connolly and Ryan Daly superb in defence, Stephen OConnell outstanding in half back, putting their bodies on the line time after time, and led by the promptings of Micko Herron and the work rate of Ken Golden and Ryan Boyd, the Saffrons found a way to get the next score of the game. Stylish and composed Barry McMahon dinked a cheeky ball into Rev McAllister who tormented the Kerry defence one more time before unselfishly slipping to fellow corner man Close who dispatched between the posts to lift the siege and extend the lead to three points.
The next score would be vital, and when the opportunity fell to Cargin’s top scorer for a decade or more, Close split the posts to the loudest cheer of the day, bringing his own individual contribution to a goal and five points.
With 90 seconds remaining Big Ryan Boyd rose highest to claim the resultant kick out and for almost a minute Antrim kept possession, Mark Graham sending Liam Cassley in for the games final score and a well-deserved five point victory.
This was an absorbing contest and Kerry were the first to congratulate the Northern side on their victory. No doubt there the teams will meet again in the next few years, but on this occasion no one could deny the Glensmen their moment.
On the day Kerry had superb performers in Thomas McGoldrick, Jeremy King, Colm Brosnan and Don Murphy, and will no doubt regroup and be the force they usually are in 2026.
On the day when every single player in Saffron rose to the occasion, and brought the contest to their illustrious opponents from the off it would be unfair not to highlight the individual contributions of Connolly and OConnell in defence, Boyd and Herron around the middle and Close, McAllister and debutant Cassley up front. The MOM award though would go to Ken Golden, the Mayo veteran producing yet another outstanding display in his adopted Saffron colours.
Whilst the moment will be enjoyed by the panel and seen by many as a further sign of obvious improvement, the prospect of facing Cavan in a few weeks in the final is a sobering one. Cavan defeated Mayo by double digits in the other semi-final and earlier in the campaign scored a rare victory over Tyrone, who have won the Dr Mick Loftus Cup for four years in a row.
Details of the final will be released on Wednesday morning.
Antrim Panel
Sean McGreevy, Mark Graham, Liam Magee, Michael Herron, Liam Cassley (0- 02), Stephen OConnell, Damien Kelly, Ken Golden, Ryan Boyd, Kieran Close (1 – 05), Niall Sweeney, Michael Donnelly, Colin Connolly, Laurence Higgins, James McGreevy, Declan McLarnon, Kevin McAllister (1- 00), Barry Mc Mahon (0 – 01), Michael McCarry (0 – 01), Dominic Neeson, Ryan Daly.
Kerry Panel
Colm Brosnan (0- -02), Colm Casey, Sean Costelloe, John Enright, James Galwey, Martin Hewitt (0 – 01), Jeremy King (0 – 04) , Eoghan Lawlor, Fergus McAuliffe, Thomas McGoldrick (0 – 03), Rory Molloy, Michael Stones Murphy, Michael Blondie Murphy, Gary ODonoghue, Timmy OLeary, Terry Osullivan, Michael J ODriscoll, Frank ORahilly, Fintan McEnery, John Sheehan.
TO VIEW THE CELEBRATION PICS FROM ANTRIM’S WIN OVER KERRY ON SATURDAY CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW