Despite an excellent second half Antrim lost to a Daithi O’Callaghan inspired Armagh in Crossmaglen on Saturday afternoon.
The young Saffrons will reflect on the number of wides they kicked in the opening half when they had the breeze at their backs as Ryan Dynes goal sent the Orchard to the dressing room leading 1-6 to 0-3 at the halfway stage.
Odhran Doherty was Antrim’s only first half scorer, the Portglenone lad converting three first half frees with Odhran Reel, Conal Wilson, Daithi O’Callaghan, Harry Fearon and a couple from Ronan Martin the Armagh first half point scorers.
It was obvious at the half way stage that Antrim would have to show marked improvement in the second half and despite facing the breeze, improve they did.
It was Ronan Reel who extended the Armagh lead with a point, early in the second half but points from Tom Duffin, Cillian Scullion and Odhran Doherty’s fourth pointed free of the evening had the Saffrons daring to believe.
Cormac Scullion added another to leave just two between the sides and the momentum was very much with the visitors before Daithi O’Callaghan grabbed the game by the scruff of the kneck to fire the Orchard back into control.
The mid-field dynamo hit an unanswered 1-2 to put his side in the driving and might have had a second goal but was off target from the penalty spot.
To their credit Antrim fought to the end and kicked the last two points through Joe Logan and a Torin Hodkinson 2 pointer to close the gap to five but that would be as close as they got.
It was a much improved second half from John O’Kane’s side but they will look back on their inaccuracy in the opening half and if they had scored a greater percentage of their opportunities then there would have been little in it in the end.
TO VIEW MORE OF BERT TROWLEN’S PICS FROM THE GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW
Antrim’s goalkeeper Maeve Scullion sets up for another brilliant save at close quarters from Offaly’s skillful Siofra Ginty
Antrim v Offaly Eir All Ireland U16 ‘A’ Shield 19th April 2025
Antrim 1-10 Offaly 3-06
Match report and photos from Antrim Camogie PRO Michael Corcoran in Portglenone
Antrim’s dream of an All-Ireland final came to an end when a determined Offaly side fired in their third goal in the eleventh minute of the second half, leaving the Saffrons with an uphill battle to close a six-point gap, despite Offaly unable to score for the remainder of the game.
A Cliodhna Thompson goal in the twenty sixth minute found the roof of the net from a free, despite the line packed with Offaly players. This gave Antrim hope, but as they say, goals win games, and an eventual two points difference would see Offaly over the line for their final.
Portglenone were the hosts for today’s All-Ireland game and worries regarding the status of the pitch were unnecessary as the turf weathered the recent deluge of rain remarkably well.
Today’s referee, Karol Collins, got proceedings underway, with a coin toss that allowed Antrim to choose playing into the wind in the first half, and at the top of the hour at 3 o’clock, it would be Antrim’s JoJo Darragh that would press into Offaly’s territory in just under thirty seconds from the throw-in but the sliotar would drift wide of the post.
Antrim’s Anna Smyth would register the first score with a fine point following a period of intense play for the sliotar and Eimear Ward would make that two points on the board following a skillful solo run and with six minutes gone, Cliodhna Thompson tidied up a pass that gave Antrim three points.
Offaly’s Laura Foley had Collins chalking up The Faithful County’s first point after a pass from teammate Keeva Davey, but Antrim’s first pain point would come sixteen minutes in from a free awarded to Offaly that dropped dangerously into Antrim’s square from Keeva Davey. An instinctive reaction from keeper, Maeve Scullion was to block the sliotar, but an unmarked and alert Siofra Ginty would pull on the loose ball for Offaly’s first of three green flags.
Antrim would respond to that goal with a fine solo and point from Cliodhna Thompson, but Offaly would reply with a punishing point from Ginty after a puck out dropped short into the wind, followed by Ginty’s 45. Antrim’s Caoimhe McErlain kept the scoreboard alive when she won a hard-earned ruck with a fine finishing point but just as the Saffron’s were making progress, Offaly replied with another two points, one from a free by Ginty and a second after Antrim’s Amy Gault swept back to the goal line to save a certain goal but the puck out went straight into the hands of a receptive Keeva Davey.
There was no shortage of physicality and strength in today’s All Ireland encounter between Antrim and Offaly
With only three points the difference at the twenty fifth minute, amidst a cluster of players in Antrim’s square, Siofra Ginty managed to find the net for her second goal and topped that with a point in less than a minute. Antrim would claw back one of those whenever Cliodhna Thompson was fouled and made good of the opportunity for her point just before the half time whistle, scores on the board Antrim 0-06 Offaly 2-06.
Offaly made good of the wind advantage in the first half and carried the sliotar far into Antrim’s half from their puck outs, negating the need and risk of working the sliotar out and up the pitch. Offaly made the most of those and worked their opportunities into unmarked players to create goal opportunities. It would be Antrim’s turn to see if the elements would deliver similar opportunities.
The second half started well for Antrim, Thompson and McErlain both pointing early but Offaly turned up the heat on the eleventh minute and a tidy sequence of play seeing Caragh Brophy hand pass at speed to a running Annie Mulhare, offloading to a nearby and unmarked Laura Foley for Offaly’s third and final green flag.
Antrim’s Fiadh Sands races to gain possession of the sliotar as the clock counts down the last few minutes in today’s All Ireland game between Antrim and Offaly
Six points adrift, Antrim started their move on the board as Tamara Black cleverly intercepted a free out from Offaly, and solo ran the sliotar close enough to carry the bar. The game now entered a period of physical intensity, reflecting Offaly’s determination to preserve their lead and Antrim’s need to gain more ground on the board. Offaly had their chance at another goal thwarted by Antrim’s Maeve Scullion after a brilliant save to keep the Saffrons in the game and Antrim’s perseverance was rewarded as Cliodhna Thompson found the net from a packed goal line from a free outside of the 13m line.
Despite several attempts to gain ground to deliver the sliotar over Offaly’s bar, Antrim weren’t able to find a break and Collins blew for full time, much to the relief of the Offaly fans who were weathering an intense period of play from a pressing Antrim.
Final score on the board, Antrim 1-10 Offaly 3-06. Offaly now progress to the final, playing Waterford, who managed to win by two points from Derry today.
Despite playing into the breeze, Cloney Gaels made the early running in this division 2 clash of old rivals on the Staffordstown Road and led 0-4 to 0-1 after nine minutes and might well have been further ahead but for some wayward shooting.
James O’Connell, Eoin Graham, Dan O’ Neill and Ronan Graham were the men on target with Thomas McCann replying for Creggan as the visitors opened at breakneck pace.
The home side survived the early pressure and replied with a goal from Conor Loughran to tie the contest by the 10th minute and Thomas McCann added two quick points to move the Kickham’s 2 ahead.
Creggan’s Sean McAuley tries to shake off the attention of Cloney’s Bernard Graham
The visitors made quick response to reassert their authority on the game and Patrick Graham fired over a good point before Colla McDonnell turned his marker and fired past Shea Devlin to restore the Ahoghill side’s lead.
Creggan were coming more into the game and Sean Duffin pointed to close the gap to the minimum in the 13th minute but a minute later James O’Connell got through for a second Cloney goal and Ronan Graham and Colla McDonnell added points to move the visitors six in front by the 16th minute.
The home side found a response again as Morgan Nelson pointed 3 frees and added another from play and a point from Niall McAuley in response to points from James O’Connell and Colla McDonnell left the visitors five in front at the short whistle.
Kickhams Creggan made a much better start to the second half and Sean Duffin and Ronan Graham exchanged points before Sean McAuley finished to the net in the 7th minute to leave just two between the sides.
Another pointed free from Morgan Nelson closed the gap to the minimum before Patrick and Ronan Graham pushed the Ahoghill side 3 in front once more but the space they were creating during the opening half was now being closed down.
They were now being made to work much harder for their scores but when James O’Connell, Dan O’Neill and Patrick Graham added points in response to one from Conor McCann, normal service looked to have been restored.
Cloney’s Colla McDonnell fires past Shea Devlin of Creggan but his shot ends in the side netting
Two more pointed frees from Morgan Nelson kept the Creggan hopes alive and when the sliothar ended in Aiden Graham’s net following a goalmouth scramble the fat was very much back in the fire.
It would be James O’Connell who would provide the scores that would eventually get the Ahoghill side over the line by the minimum with Niall McAuley and Conor McCann from a free getting the home side’s final scores.
A good game of hurling between two previously unbeaten sides. For a time Cloney Gaels looked like winning it comfortably but were never able to shake off a Creggan team who kept coming back for more.
Kickham’s Creggan face a tough away fixture when they travel to Oisin Glenariffe on the 26th April while Cloney entertain Loughgiel’s second string on the same day.
Kickham’s: 1 Shea Devlin, 2 Peadar McGuckian, 3 Aiden McKeown, 5 Dan Doran, 7 Jake McAteer, 8 Sean Duffin, 10 Matthew Rogers, 11 Thomas McCann, 14 Conor McCann, 13 Sean McAuley, 16 Joseph Smith, 15 Conor Loughran, 18 Dylan Hinfey, 27 Niall McAuley, 21 Michael Carey Small, 20 Morgan Nelson.
Cloney Gaels: 1 Aiden Graham, 2 Bernard Graham, 3 Patrick Dougan, 4 Charlie McCloskey, 5 Neil O’Connell, 6 James Magee, 7 Diarmaid Graham, 8 Eamon Brady, 9 Conor Crossey, 10 Patrick Graham, 11 Ronan Graham, 12 Eoin Graham, 13 Colla McDonnell, 14 Dan O’Neill, 15 James O’Connell
Subs: 17 Noah Friel, 18 Martin Graham, 19 Conal Walls, 20 Ben Friel, 21 Adam Mullan
Referee: Sean Elliott (Lamh Dhearg)
FOR MORE PICS FROM THE GAME CLICK ON HE LINK BELOW
Despite Antrim hurlers being away to Wexford in the Leinster Championship and our minor footballers in action in Crossmaglen in the Ulster Championship, we have an extensive list of fixtures for today.
As a result we do not have personnel to cover many of these games and we appeal to P.R.O.’s from the clubs in action to send us a report from their games.
If your club’s in action today take notes.
Get a photograph of both team sheets (Ask the referee and tell him you’re doing a report for the saffron Gael)
Write down the number of the player scoring and time in 2 columns
Either do a report from the notes or send us the team sheets, scorers and times and we’ll will put something together.
Looking forward to hearing from you tonight or tomorrow
Brendan McTaggart looks ahead to Antrim’s Leinster championship opener as Antrim travel to Wexford.
Almost six weeks have passed since the end of a National Hurling league that saw Antrim maintain their Division One status for the 2026 season. Wins against Westmeath and Laois came either side of a draw away to Carlow in a game that saw the Saffrons come back from the brink.
Since then, the Saffrons attention have been firmly set upon the Leinster Championship. It’s a tough schedule that will see them play five matches in as many weeks with trips to Galway and Offaly preceding home games against Kilkenny and Dublin. Before all that however, Antrim have a trip to the ‘Sunny South East’ and a match against Wexford.
Thought will immediately go back to that historical meeting 12 months ago against the Slaneysiders where Antrim recorded a first championship win against Wexford. That match finishing 2-22 to 2-20. This is one that certainly whet’s the appetite – an early Easter feast, if you will.
The Antrim squad have recently been on a training camp to Portugal and when we spoke with Davy Fitzgerald, he lauded his squad for their efforts not only on the training pitch but to also put something like this together: “Yeah we had four days in Portugal which was the equivalent of eight sessions or two weeks in that space of time.
“It’s hugely beneficial to not only get that training done and games but to get away from any outside noise – both good and bad.
“You’re in a different environment and a different country but it’s our space and our area. This is already a close group of lads but being in that environment and this setting, it builds bonds or reinforces them.
“I’m immensely proud of the lads. They’ve put in a serious amount of work to ensure the likes of that would happen. I know they’ve done it for the last number of years, these lads seen that the County Board have been brilliant for the lads and wanted to do this themselves.”
After a league campaign that saw the Saffrons improve as the season progressed, Fitzgerald wasn’t looking to paper over any cracks. Consistency is still the buzz word within the camp and the Clare native said they are working relentlessly to bring that to this squad: “We beat teams (in the league) that we’d have been expected to beat and drew against Carlow in a game that I thought we were the better side. There’s an inconsistency there and by that I mean being competitive, that’s something that we’re trying to sort out.
“I’ve been working on in-house games mostly. Working on ways to improve the areas we’ve identified that need improving.
“The lads are open to the ideas we’re bringing. I’m a firm believer in dealing with these things head on and we’ve had discussions as a group to try and address this. Are we there yet? No, I don’t think so but I definitely believe we’re going in the right direction.
“We’re in a position to do things that can change that and we’re trying. The lads are doing incredible work and working really hard. I’ve massive respect for these lads for the efforts they are putting in to turn this around.”
Saturday is a huge game and with the bookies making Antrim as big as 10/1 and the Handicap betting sitting at -9 for Evs, wouldn’t you just love for another massive moment for this squad and team against the ‘Yella Bellies’ but as Fitzgerald said, while some may look at that as a negative, he’s looking to turn that into a positive and instill a fire within his players: “We’re odds on to be relegated in Leinster or so I’ve been told by friends who have been to the bookies. I’ve been telling the lads that they have to go out and tare into these teams and see where we are.”
After that game in Corrigan last year, Wexford recovered to defeat Galway, Carlow and ran Kilkenny to a point in the last game, adding to their draw against Dublin on the opening day. They finished third and advanced to the preliminary quarter finals on a better head to head against Galway and just one point ahead of Antrim.
In the 2025 league, Wexford played in Division 1A and while they were relegated to 1B, they recorded victories against Clare and Limerick. It shows that the Slaneysiders are a side who have the capabilities to go deep in the championship though many would see them as outsiders.
They are, off course, a side that Davy Fitzgerald will know very well. He was in charge of the county’s senior team from 2016 to 2021 in a tenure that saw him win the county’s first Leinster championship for 15 years (2019) before losing narrowly to eventual All-Ireland winners Tipperary in the semi-final that year. Fitzy said that he has fond memories of his time in charge in the south-east: “I have a huge amount of respect for Wexford. I had five great years there and they are a great, passionate people. From what I’ve been told, they are hurt from getting beat by Antrim last year and looking to atone for that on Saturday, want to teach us a lesson.
“It’s important to relish a challenge like this and I’ve told the lads that.”
