March 29, 2025March 29, 2025 by thesaffrongael

Antrim gain their first point but it might have been two

Dalata Ulster U20 Football Championship,

Group A

Antrim 0-17 Fermanagh 1-14

Following midweek hammering for both of the teams in action at Dunsilly today, both Antrim and Fermanagh were determined that they were better than those midweek results had indicated.

After an hour’s football both sides will be happy to get a point each on the table with the Saffrons perhaps the happier following a last minute Tarlach Enright point from a ‘45’ that earned his side a deserved draw.

The Saffrons had only themselves to blame for being in that position however as they looked well on their way to victory when they led by six with as many minutes of the 60 remaining.

Antrim had dominated for long periods during the second half and a first win in two years looked on the cards but, Fermanagh rallied superbly to rattle off seven scores in quick succession to edge ahead in added time before Enright salvaged a point with that late equaliser.

Both teams had conceded big scores in midweek with the Erne-siders trounced by Tyrone and Antrim suffering a similar fate to Donegal, so this was a huge test of character for today’s opponents and they responded accordingly.

Antrim manager Colin Toal made a number of changes for today’s game with the switch of Donncha McGurk from midfield into full-back and Niall Hynds taking up McGurk’s mid-field birth and it proved an excellent move as the St Brigid’s man had a solid game at the edge of the square while Hynds battled hard at mid-field.

At the other end, Lorcan Phillips marked his promotion from the bench to the starting team with the game’s opening score as Antrim settled much better in the difficult conditions with Rory McErlean kicking a free and Sé Ferris added another from play.

Fermanagh took a time to settle but struck decisively with a goal after 13 minutes as Cian O’Brien’s through ball sent Conor Mulligan through to fire to the net.

O’Brien, who kicked 0-9 over the hour, landed his first two including a beauty from play before Antrim regained control with Enright’s first 45 of the day followed by a point from Corey Walsh before Conhuir Johnston got free to fist over.

Mulligan and Rory McErlean traded points as Antrim held a slender advantage late in the opening period but Fermanagh would take the lead into the break as O’Brien slung over an excellent two-pointer and then added a late free to give his side a 1-6 to 0-7 advantage.

Lanty Feely added another for the3 visitors, four minutes after the break to extend the gap to three, but Fermanagh would fail to score for the next 20minutes as Antrim took control again.

The impressive Enright converted two, two-point frees and McErlean added three more with Conhuir Johnston hitting a brace to bring his tally for the day to three as the Saffrons led by six heading into the home straight.

The home side looked to have done enough at this stage for their first win of the campaign but Fermanagh rallied superbly as they kicked seven unanswered points in just nine minutes through O’Brien (four frees), Mattie McDermott (two) and Shay Deazley to edge ahead deep into added time.

Fermanagh lost Kealán Fitzpatrick to a second yellow late on as Antrim engineered one last raid, winning a 45 which Enright nailed to salvage a draw, which on the balance of play, was perhaps a fair outcome.

Next up for Antrim is a trip to Newry on Wednesday to face Down (7.30pm).

Antrim: S Nagle; S Doyle, D McGurk, C Hale; R Quinn, P Duffin, E Walsh; N Hynds, S Ferris (0-1); C Walsh (0-1), T Enright (0-6, 2x2ptf, 2x45s), R McErlean (0-5, 5f); JJ Higgins, C Johnston (0-3), L Phillips (0-1).

Subs: O Quinn for JJ Higgins (42), C McAleese for L Phillips (52), S Boyd for C Walsh (55), M McKenna for S Ferris (60+4).

Fermanagh: C Brown; S McCarron, C Mulligan (1-1), K McGoldrick; L Feely (0-1), O Swift, C McAnespie; L MacEnrí, B Warnock; C Brennan, D Chapman, S Deazley (0-1); K Fitzpatrick, M McDermott (0-2), C O’Brien (0-9, 1x2pt, 6f).

Subs: D Cathcart for B Warnock (42), B Goodwin for D Chapman (45), J Tierney for K McGoldrick (48), D Flanagan for C Brennan (50).

Referee: M Moore (Down)

TO VIEW MORE OF BERT’S PICS CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

https://myalbum.com/album/xkKizJEy25rMrS

March 28, 2025March 29, 2025 by thesaffrongael

Hurling leagues get underway on Sunday

The Antrim hurling leagues get underway on Sunday with a full programme from Division 1 right down to the newly formed Division 4.

With several of the Senior Reserve teams complaining about a lack of regular matches some of them have joined Division 2 to make sure they get enough games this season. A few of the Division 2 club’s I spoke with are not too keen on the idea, saying that too many of the clubs are able to manipulate the fixtures to make sure they have full use of their best players in these games.

DIVISION 1

Division 1 gets underway on Sunday at 2pm when Portaferry host Dunloy Cuchullains, but the other two games in the top division don’t start until 4 when St John’s host county champions Cushendall at Corrigan Park, Rossa have Ballycaste as visitors to Shaw’s Road and Loughgiel have a home tie against St Enda’s at Fr Healy Park, this one starting at 4-30

DIVISION 2

All but one of the eight Division 2 games get underway at 2pm when St Gall’s host Cloney Gaels at the Bog Meadows, Creggan are at home to Ulster Intermediate Champions Carey Faughs, while Tir na nOg take on Oisins Glenariffe at Whitehill. St Paul’s host Cushendun Emmet’s at Shaw’s Road while Loughgiel Shamrocks 2nds have Bredagh as visitors to Fr Healy Park. Sarsfields have Carryduff visiting the Bear Pit while St Brigid’s Cloughmills have a home tie against Glenarm. The final game in this division starts at 4 when St Paul’s 2nds take on Loch Mor Dal Chais.

DIVISION 3

2 pm is also the start time for the five Division 3 fixtures which sees Davitt’s take on Dunloy 2nds, Glenrovers Armoy face Ruairi Og seconds 2nds, Gort na Mona’s welcome Con Magees Glenravel to Enright Park while in the last game in the division Lamh Dhearg take on visitors Ballycastle 2nds.

DIVISION 4

In Division 4 All Saints Ballymena are at home to St Brigid’s, Belfast, Belfast Saints face Ardoyne in a Belfast derby while Rossa 2nds face Glenarm 2nds at Rossa Park.

March 28, 2025March 28, 2025 by thesaffrongael

Antrim U20s face Westmeath in Mullingar

Leinster Under 20 Hurling Championship – Tier 2

Westmeath v Antrim at Cussack Park, Mullingar

Antrim Under-20s step into the unknown tomorrow (Saturday) when they take on Westmeath in the Leinster Championship in Cussack Park, Mullingar. (Throw-in 2pm).

Liam Glackin who played at full back in the Ulster final for Antrim in their win over Down and at centre back in CPC’s Paddy Buggy final win. The selectors will have to decide what suits him best in Mullingar

When we spoke to team manager Michael McShane he sounded upbeat about things, saying that training has been going really well since beating Down in the Ulster final three weeks ago. The four senior players in the panel, Sean McKay, Cormac McKeown, Aodhan McGarry and Joseph McLaughlin were away last weekend with the senior squad at their warm-weather training camp in Portugal, returned a few days ago and trained with the rest of the squad last night.

Michael and his management team will not name the starting 15 until they arrive at Cussack Park as there are a couple of players with slight niggles and they want to asses them in the morning to be sure they are good to go. However the Ballycastle man assures us that the spirit in the camp is very good. They have worked very hard for a few months now and are really looking forward to the challenge of playing in Tier 2 in Leinster.

Their group in the second tier contains Westmeath and Meath and McShane stressed that nothing short of a win on Saturday will suffice. One team of the three advances to Tier 1 and that is something the management team have set their sights on since the campaign started. They have seen Westmeath in action on a couple of occasions and have been impressed with what they saw.

“I have got to see the opposition in action in a couple of games. They are a very big, strong team and they play a very distinctive running game. We know that any time you go into Mullingar to play Westmeath you are going to be up against it.” Like ourselves their aim is to get into Tier 1 and to do that they need to win tomorrow. McShane added “ To be honest whoever loses tomorrow will be more or less out of it.”

The way the group works sees whoever loses out tomorrow facing Meath next weekend, while the winners of tomorrow’s game face the same opposition the following weekend on April 12^th.

Summing up McShane added “We are all very excited about this game, which should have a real championship feel about it, We are really looking forward to it and hopefully we get the win.”

The Saffrons have qualified for this stage of the competition by winning the Ulster title which saw them beat Derry and Down in the round robin section, and them beat Down in the final in Ballycastle. Down provided stiff opposition in that final and at half time there was only four points between the sides. However they pulled away in the second half and were comfortable enough winners in the end.

McShane and his team have had a wide selection to pick from, especially with St Killian’s winning last season’s Paddy Buggy Cup (All Ireland Colleges B Championship) and Cross & Passion doing the same this year. There is deep pool of talent available and they have been given their chance during a series of challenge games, plus their Ulster campaign.

We would expect to see a team along the lines of the one that beat Down in the Ulster final. Cormac McKeown did not start that day because he selected to start on the senior team the following day against Laois in the National Hurling League Division 1 B game at Corrigan Park. However he did get a run out during the second half of the Down game and looks certain to start tomorrow.

The team who beat Down in that Ulster final was

Antrim: Eoghan Richmond; Ciarán McAllister, Liam Glackin, Malachi McGibbon; Charlie McAuley, Ben O’Kane, Niall Magee; Sean McKay, Calum McIlwaine; Aodhan McGarry, Oran Donnelly, Thomas McLaughlin; Callagh Mooney, Joseph McLaughlin, Fiontan Bradley

Subs: Sean Óg Blaney for C McAllister (28); Cormac McKeown for O Donnelly (38); Orrin O’Connor for J McLaughlin (58); Austin Birt for L Glackin (58)

Scorers: F Bradley 0-10 (5fs); A McGarry 1-1 (1f); J McLaughlin 0-3; S McKay 0-2; O Donnelly 0-2; C Mooney 0-2; O O’Connor 0-2; N Magee 0-1; C McIlwaine 0-1; C McKeown 0-1

THE WESTMEATH LINE-OUT

Tomorrow is the biggest game most of these young men have faced. The stakes are high and it promises to be a great contest. Get yourself down to Mullingar to cheer them on.

For those not able to travel the game is being streamed live on Clubber