Antrim team to face Kildare in the Walsh Shield
Author / thesaffrongael
Ulster Colleges Camogie final postponed
Today’s Ulster Camogie final between CPC and St Pat’s Maghera, which was to have been played at Eoghan rua Coleraine has been postpone because of a frozen pitch
Another opportunity to assess Antrim panel
Antrim v Donegal
McKenna Cup – Round 2
Erin”s Own, Cargin – 1.30pm Sunday
Antrim manger, Mark Doran and his backroom staff will have another opportunity to run their eyes over those at their disposal for the forthcoming NFL Division 4 campaign, when the Saffrons face Donegal at Erin’s own Cargin on Sunday.
The Down native would have been happy enough with Antrim’s performance for three quarters of their opening McKenna Cup game against Derry at Owenbeg on Wednesday night before the wheels came off the wagon in the final quarter.
Doran gave a first outing in the Saffron jersey to experienced keeper, John McNabb, Kevin McCann and Aidan McErlean of St. Ergnat’s, Gerard O’Neill of St. Gall’s and Tom McFerran of Dunloy.
There were also recalls for Cargin’s Pat Shivers and John McCarron and Antrim acquitted themselves well during the opening half and a great 2 pointer from keeper McNabb just on half time, left them trailing by 2 at the break.
Indeed the Saffrons had a number of opportunities to draw level or even move ahead during the opening 14 minutes of a scoreless third quarter but failed to convert a number of good scoring opportunities.
Derry started to get their game together in the final quarter as Antrim seemed to run out of steam and goals from Paul Cassidy and Ruairi O’Mianain saw them record a somewhat flattering 2-16 to 0-7 win.
The Antrim management will take a lot of positives from their side’s opening half display at Owenbeg as they took the opportunity to give quite a number game time in the second and are likely to introduce more changes for the visit of the Tir Connaill men to Toome.
A successful division 4 campaign will be Antrim’s priority and the McKenna Cup gives the new management team the opportunity to run their eyes over as many players as possible.
The Derry visit on day one to Donegal was postponed due to an unplayable pitch with both sides awarded a point each as a result so Wednesday night’s win over Antrim leaves Derry in a strong position.
Donegal will have to beat Antrim by 15 points to top Section C and while they are capable of achieving it, the Saffrons will have other ideas and will be keen to build on their opening half performance against the Oak Leaf men.
At the time of writing no Antrim team has been announced and while the Saffrons are missing quite a few panellists through injury or University duty, I would expect to see changes to the team that started on Wednesday night.
Antrim are likely to draw a good crowd to Erin’s Own where performance rather final result is likely to be the priority as Mark Doran and his backroom team prepare for the tough National League campaign that lies ahead.
Scoreless second half sinks the Saffrons
Dr McKenna Cup – Section C
Derry 2-16 Antrim 0-07
When Antrim went in at half time just two points in arrears in Wednesday evening’s McKenna Cup opener against Derry at Owenbeg, things looked promising for Mark Doran’s new team, but all was to change in the second period when they failed to raise a single flag and Derry, despite not scoring until the 43rd minute, took full advantage of Antrim’s scoring woes to race to an emphatic win.
The ironic thing was that Antrim had plenty of chances during the third quarter, four of them in the five minutes after the break but none of them were turned into scores. The Antrim chances all turned out to be from awkward positions on the wing while Derry took the direct route more often than not and as the Saffron’s defence tired the chances came thick and fast.
When the home side eventually broke their second half duck on 43 minutes with a Loughlin Murray point the scores began to flow and after right half back Shea Downey fisted over from close range Paul Cassidy fired home the first goal of the game in the 47th minute after good movement straight through the middle. Four more followed in the next ten minutes before goal number two came in injury time following an unfortunate slip by goalkeeper John McNabb.
Derry started the game in a more positive fashion and were three points clear after five minutes, two them from Loughlin Murray and one from Conor Doherty. The signs were getting a little worrying for Antrim at this stage but an excellent point from play by Marc Jordan and one from a Pat Shivers free got them going as they closed the gap to the minimum by the eighth minute.
Derry went straight up the field from the kick-out and after a series of good moves Niall Loughlin got through to fire over a point to put two between the sides again, but Paddy McBride came back with one for the Saffrons to close the gap to 0-04 to 0-03.
A brilliant 2pointer from Paul Cassidy made it double scores for the Oak Leaf men and it looked like they were taking control but the visitors dug-in and points from a Dominic McEnhill and Pat Shivers frees kept the gap at two. Points from Mark Doherty and Ethan Doherty in the 26th and 28th minutes stretched the Derry lead to four again, but Antrim finished the half on a high when goalkeeper McNabb swung over a 2pointer time to leave just two between the sides at the short whistle.
The Saffrons will take on Donegal in their next game on Sunday in Cargin which will give Mark Doran another chance to run his eye over his squad. The Down man must have been pleased the way they competed in the first half of this game but the second half ask a lot more questions that it answered.
Derry: R Scullion; C McCluskey 0-1, P McGrogan 0-1, D Baker; S Downey 0-1, G McKinless, M Doherty 0-1; C Doherty 0-1, P Cassidy 1-2 (1tp); J Doherty, M Downey, E Doherty 0-1; N Toner 0-1, N Loughlin 0-1, L Murray 0-3. Subs: C McAteer 0-1 for Downey (HT), S Kearney 0-2 for J Loughlin (36), S Young for J Doherty (36), R O Mianain 1-0 for S Downey (48), R Mulholland for Baker (52), D Baker for McCluskey (58)
Antrim: J McNabb 0-2 (1tp); J Morgan, K McCann, J McAuley; G O’Neill, E McCabe, M Jordan 0-1; J Carron, P Finnegan; P McBride 0-1, C Small, T McFerran; P Shivers 0-2, D McEnhill 0-1 (f), A McErlain. Subs: S O’Neill for Morgan (26), O Doherty for McFerran (HT), T McCann for Small (41), T Shivers for McErlain (50), R Hagan for G O’Neill (50), P Bradley for McEnhill (50), K Small for Carron (50)
Referee: E Mallon (Armagh)
Below – Antrim manager Mark Doran
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Antrim team to meet Derry announced
Derry v Antrim
McKenna Cup-Owenbeg 7.30pm
The Antrim team to play Derry in tonight’s McKenna Cup at Owenbeg has been announced and manager Mark Doran has taken the opportunity to take a look at a number of new faces.
John McNabb of Cargin is selected in goals while Kevin McCann of Moneyglass earns his first outing on the edge of the square and Gerard O’Neill of St. Gall’s is selected at right half back.
Tom McFerran of county champions, Dunloy is the only member of his club in the starting lineup while Cargin stalwart, John Carron returns to the side at mid-field and another St. Ergnat’s youngster, Aidan McErlean gets his first senior outing in the corner of the attack.