NFL Division Four
Waterford 0-11 Antrim 4-18
Frahers Field, Dungarvan
Peter Healey marked his return to the Antrim side after a long absence as the Saffrons brought their winning run to three on the bounce at Frahers Field, Dungarven on Sunday.
Healey who played his football for St. Enda’s, Glengormley but now lives in Dublin where he won a Dublin championship with his former club’s namesake, St. Enda’s last played for Antrim in the Tailteann Cup three years ago where he picked up a serious injury.
Healey has kept in touch with Antrim and attended recent training sessions and he informed me two weeks ago in Portglenone that he wasn’t far away from an Antrim return and he marked that return with a goal.
The Saffrons continued their recent winning streak after they ran riot on Sunday afternoon where they tore hosts Waterford apart to earn their third consecutive victory in the National Football League.
Marc Jordan who was one of four goal scorers for Antrim in Dungarven
Antrim went into the tie against the bottom side off back-to-back victories over Wicklow and Leitrim with Sunday’s result giving them an outside chance of gaining promotion but it would take results to go their way elsewhere.
It was a dominant performance from start to finish in Dungarvan with the Saffrons hitting nine scores in the opening quarter of an hour after Marc Jordan’s first major gave the traveller’s a huge boost.
Jordan was set up by the returning Peter Healy who combined with his defensive partner in the attacking third, with the Lámh Dhearg man lashing his effort beyond Paudie Hunt.
Dominic McEnhill and Pat Shivers added points from range to keep the scoreboard ticking over for Antrim early on with their efforts seeing orange flags raised.
The pair were then gifted a white flag opportunity moments later after a stray Paudie Hunt kickout, and Shivers set up McEnhill for the score as the away side began to create scoring opportunities.
The returning Peter Healy then got through for a second Antrim goal as the visitors began to turn the screw, picking their opponents apart with precision passing and overturning possession as they displayed a passion their opponents simply couldn’t match.
McEnhill added another two-pointer, this time from a dead ball and Antrim continued to press at every opportunity.
Aided by the stiff breeze in the opening half, Antrim had the points secured by the halfway stage but continued to call the shots after the break, and initially out-scoring their opponents in the first 20 minutes of the second half.
When James Walsh finally raised Waterford’s second white flag of the second half, Antrim replied with two further goals to put the game out of site of the opposition.
Rossa star, McEnhill, continued to score at will and Antrim looked firmly in the driving seat as they increased their score difference in the league standings.
Ruairi O’Hagan and Joseph Finnegan combined before working it to Ryan McQuillian for a slick finish on the hour mark, ensuring the victory with Antrim’s third major of the afternoon.
Three minutes later John McNabb’s ‘45’ came back off the upright and landed just outside the square where Adam Loughran was quickest to react on the loose ball and he finished first time to the net for Antrim’s fourth of the afternoon to put his side further ahead.
The hosts did show a bit of fight following a couple of well-taken late two-pointed frees from Michael O’Brien, but Antrim reacted again with a series of orange flags to move out of site as the opposition continued to concede possession.
Séan O’Neill entered the fray and his late score accompanied by a couple from Paddy McAleer saw the scoreboard move into new territory for Antrim as they continued to score at will and continue their outside chance of promotion ahead of next weekend’s tie with London.
The hopes of promotion are slim, but after a hefty tally which brings Antrim back in the positive column for score difference, head to head could be a decisive factor next weekend.
To have any chance of promotion Antrim need to beat London next weekend and Leitrim would have to defeat Carlow in Carlow and Wicklow would have to beat Longford in Longford.
Waterford: Paudie Hunt; Tommy Martin, Billy Hynes, Conor Ó Cuirrín; Adam Crawford, Caoimhín Walsh (0-01), Glen Power; Dermot Ryan (capt) (0-01), Michael O’Brien (0-05, 2TPF); James Walsh (0-01), Alan Dunwoody, Liam Mulligan; Darragh Walsh, Stephen Curry (0-02, 0-01 f), Adam Murray
Subs: Cian Kiely for Ó Cuirrín (28), Colin Foley for Crawford (HT), Kyle Flynn for Murray (52), Conor Keating (0-01) for D Walsh (57
Antrim: John McNabb; John Morgan, Eunan Walsh, Kavan Keenan; Joseph Finnegan (0-01), Peter Healy (1-00), Eoghan McCabe (capt) (0-01); Paddy McAleer (0-02, 0-01f), Marc Jordan (1-00); Ronan Boyle, Dominic McEnhill (0-08, 1xTP, 1xTPF), Tiernan McCormack; Ryan McQuilligan (1-00), Adam Loughran (1-00), Pat Shivers (0-05, 1xTP, 0-1f)
Subs: Seán O’Neill (0-01) for Jordan (HT), Ruairi O’Hagan for Healy (51), James McAuley for McCormack (58), Tomas McCann for Boyle, Tom Shivers for P Shivers (both 62)
Referee: Mark Loughran (Tyrone)
NFL Division 4 Table
| team | P | W | D | L | +/- | Pts |
| 1 Wicklow | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 27 | 8 |
| 2 Carlow | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 8 |
| 3 Longford | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| 4 London | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 7 |
| 5 Antrim | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 6 |
| 6 Tipperary | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 6 |
| 7 Leitrim | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | -5 | 6 |
| 8 Waterford | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -51 | 0 |