Allianz NFL Division 3

Antrim v Wicklow

Corrigan Park-Sunday 2-00pm

A bright start to the Division 3 campaign saw Antrim travel to Limerick and come away with an opening day win and when they accounted for Offaly at Corrigan in round 2 everything looked to be going to plan.

Despite Antrim’s season being decimated by a long injury list that has seen little signs of getting better, the Saffron’s new look side were doing all that was asked of them and more.

Andy McEntee has been forced to dig deep into his panel while handing quite a number of players their National League debuts with quite a bit of success but the wheels started to come off in round 3.

Down were always going to be a big test for Antrim and so it proved to be with the Mourne side producing a blistering finish to beat the Saffrons by 9 points. Antrim matched the visitors for 45 minutes but were overran in the closing stages.

An away trip to Sligo offered an opportunity to get back to winning ways and Antrim’s first half performance at Markievicz Park suggested they were back on track but again Antrim failed to sustain it for the full 70 minutes.

Next up were Westmeath and another stiff test for an Antrim side whose injury crisis saw no signs of abating but Antrim produced another creditable performance but missed too many chances before going down to the unbeaten visitors by four points.

Descent performances but nothing to show for them and a visit to third place Clare with another inexperienced lineout didn’t auger well for Andy McEntee’s side.

Clare, with promotion still within their remit opened strongly in Ennis and raced into a healthy 0-9 to 0-3 lead at half time, the Antrim cause not helped when Colm McLarnon was shown Red, ten minutes before half time.

Antrim rallied strongly with 14 men in the second half to outscore Clare 0-6 to 0-3 but in the end were beaten by three points and the road narrows as they face Wicklow this weekend.

The win that Wicklow were desperately seeking since the start of this Division 3 campaign arrived amid much drama when they toppled Limerick by 0-09 to 0-08 at Echelon Park Aughrim last Saturday afternoon.

The tension at the death when Jimmy Lee’s charges came hunting for at least a levelling score, if not a match-winning goal, will be remembered by those who braved the heavy drizzle to watch Oisin McConville’s side give themselves every chance of preserving their league status.

The win and Antrim’s defeat in Clare means that the Garden County travel to Corrigan Park next weekend knowing that victory over the Saffrons will see them remain in Division 3, a prospect that has looked unlikely at various stages of this campaign.

Only a point separated the sides in the end but that point was enough to get Wicklow off the mark and Oisin McConville’s side will come to Corrigan believing that they can get the win that would secure division 3 football for another season.

Kevin Quinn 0-3, Dean Healey 0-2, Matt Nolan, Gavin Fogarty, Chris O’Brien and Oisin McGraynor were the Wicklow scorers as they outscored Limerick 0-9 to 0-8.

Limerick are already condemned to division 4 for 2025 but the other side in the relegation issue, Offaly can put themselves in with a fighting chance when they host Limerick this weekend.

A win for Offaly would put them onto 5 points and should Antrim lose to Wicklow then they would escape relegation.

A draw for Antrim would still be enough to move them onto 5 points themselves and that would be enough, given Antrim’s win over Offaly in round 2.

Andy McEntee was upbeat about his side’s chances when I spoke to him this week. “It’s a huge game but our future is still very much in our own hands. We haven’t been clinical enough over the 70 plus minutes in some of those games. We didn’t show up in the second half against Sligo and we might have had something from the Westmeath game where we missed at least three goal chances” the manager said

“We have had a long injury list with up to a dozen players unavailable at any one time and we will be without Colm McLarnon for the visit of Wicklow. A number of those players are not too far away but just who will be available we will not know until after tonight’s training session”

Mick Byrne, Joe Finnegan, Declan Lynch, Dermot McAleese, Patrick McBride, Marc Jordan and Ruairi McCann (Creggan) have been ever presents in the Antrim side this year and bring a wealth of experience.

They are likely to be joined by Kavan Keenan, Eunan Walsh, Ronan Boyle, Dominic McEnhill and Pat Shivers while Ryan McQuillan will have put himself in the frame with a solid performance when coming on as a sub in Ennis.

As the Antrim manager states “It’s very much in our own hands” and whatever Antrim side take the field against Wicklow on Sunday should be good enough to get the result that will see them playing division 3 football next season.

Sunday’s opponents met at the same venue in 2022 where second half goals from Marc Jordan and substitute Conor Murray proved to be the difference as Antrim moved to the top of Division 3 with six points to spare over Wicklow.

Antrim dominated the majority of possession and went in at the break on level terms – 0-07 to 1-04. A goal from Kevin Quinn brought the Garden County back into the game midway through the first half. 

Five minutes into the second half Antrim scored their first goal through Jordan and Antrim sealed a fine win deep into stoppage time when Murray grabbed their second goal.

A similar result on Sunday would do nicely and Antrim are capable of getting that result.

Throw in at Corrigan is 2-00pm on Sunday so come along and support Antrim and a bumper home side could just be the difference in us getting the result we need.

Wicklow v Limerick last weekend: Shane Doyle; Tom Moran, Malachy Stone, Eoin Murtagh; Matt Nolan (0-01), Paddy O’Keane, Gavin Fogarty, Dean Healy, Craig Maguire; Darragh Fee, Chris O’Brien Cathal Baker; Johnny Carlin, Kevin Quinn JP Nolan.
Subs: Oisin McGraynor for J Carlin (61), Gearoid Murphy for JP Nolan (66), Jack Kirwan for C Maguire (68), Cillian McDonald for G Fogarty (69), Conor Fee for C O’Brien (70+1)

Antrim need to get something from Wicklow’s visit to Corrigan on Sunday if they are to maintain their NFL division 3 status and today we take a look at the Leinster side’s last visit to Belfast on the 19^th February 2022.

Andy McEntee and his side would settle for a similar result on Sunday and we will take a look at that game later in the week but for now let’s sit back and enjoy the report from that victory back in 2022.

Allianz National Football League Division 3 

Antrim 2-10-1-07 Wicklow 

19^th February 2022

Kevin Herron reports from Corrigan Park 

Second half goals from Marc Jordan and Conor Murray helped Antrim to bounce back from defeat against Limerick with a 2-10-1-07 win over Wicklow at Corrigan Park on Saturday afternoon. 

The Saffrons made a strong start, but a Kevin Quinn goal gave Wicklow a foothold and the sides were drawn level at the break. 

Jordan hammered the hosts back into the driving seat after the restart- although it wasn’t until club-mate Conor Murray hit the net in injury-time that the points were safe after a second half that saw both sides waste goal opportunities. 

Antrim went into the game looking to respond to defeat to Limerick a fortnight earlier and were forced into a late change with Marc Jordan coming into replace injured Dermot McAleese. 

The hosts took an early lead through a Ruairi McCann point after the forward twisted, turned and fired between the posts. Ryan Murray then picked up where he left off against Limerick and conjured up a fine score. 

Enda McGinley’s side stretched their advantage through an Odhran Eastwood point after a nice build-up between Marc Jordan and Ruairi McCann- who would double his tally in the immediate aftermath to give his side a 0-04-0-00 lead. 

Wicklow had barely laid a glove on the Saffrons up until that stage, but they stormed back into the game with a 16^th minute goal through Kevin Quinn. 

Eoin Darcy slipped the ball across to the full-forward who rocketed a shot to the roof of the net past Oisin Kerr. 

The visitors were back on terms through a terrific Mark Kenny point, though Antrim regained the lead. 

A fantastic Kevin Small score was followed by a second Eastwood point after Jamie Gribbon seized upon a poor kick-out from Wicklow keeper Shane Doyle. 

Doyle atoned for that error and made a double stop to deny Gribbin, Odhran Eastwood unselfishly passed to Gribbin whose shot was turned off the line by Doyle, the chance was kept alive, and the Wicklow keeper kept the Cargin forward at bay at the second time of asking. 

Defence was then turned to attack as Darragh Fitzgerald pulled a point back at the other end and the sides were drawn level for a second time through a Eoin Murtagh point after Andy Maher opted to play a free outfield and work the ball into a shooting position. 

Antrim looked to have edged ahead at the break after Paddy McAleer laid the ball off to Ryan Murray- who curled over his second of the afternoon, but Oisin McGraynor converted a free to ensure that the sides were tied at 0-07-1-04 at the interval. 

Jamie Gribbin has his shot saved by Wicklow goalkeeper Doyle Seconds later Gribbin is denied again

Both sides traded scores at the beginning of the second period, substitute Conor Murray swung a fantastic pass into the path of Tomas McCann who brushed off heavy pressure and stroked the ball over. 

Wicklow restored parity through a Mark Kenny free- it was short-lived though as Antrim emphatically regained the lead through a strike from Marc Jordan.

The chance was manufactured by Cargin duo Michael McCann and Jamie Gribbon- who opted for an unselfish lay-off to Jordan, who rifled low to the net past Doyle to give his side a 1-08-1-05 lead. 

Andy Maher drove forward and pulled a point back for his side and things could have got better with a quarter of an hour remaining. 

Substitute Rory Stokes saw his goal-bound effort blocked, the loose ball came back his way and Stokes follow-up effort drifted inches past the post. 

Two minutes later Antrim saw a goal chance go abegging, Marc Jordan threaded a pass through to Kevin Small to advance and smash a powerful effort off the underside of the crossbar, the loose ball fell to Conor Murray whose high shot dropped and clipped the post before the danger was eventually scrambled away. 

Murray would get himself on the scoresheet after a nice move from Odhran Eastwood and a converted Ruairi McCann free had Antrim 1-10-1-06 ahead going into the last ten minutes. 

Conor Murray scores Antrim’s game clinching goal in second half injury time

The game was very much up for grabs going into injury-time with Mark Kenny claiming and converting an advanced mark to leave a goal between the sides. 

It wasn’t until deep into five additional minutes that Antrim finally saw off the Garden-County. 

Pat Shivers stole the ball back midway inside the Wicklow half and picked out the run of Conor Murray- who took off towards the target and hammered it past Doyle to give his side a 2-10-1-07 win at the full-time whistle and ensure the Saffrons a second win in their opening three league encounters. 

Antrim: O Kerr, E McCabe, R Johnston, P McCormick, M Jordan (1-00), J Laverty, P Healy, M McCann, K Small (0-01), R Murray (0-02), J Gribbon, P McAleer, T McCann (0-01), R McCann (0-03, 0-01f), O Eastwood (0-02). Subs: C Murray (1-01) for E McCabe (HT), P McBride for P McAleer (50), S McGarry for T McCann (55), M Johnston for M Jordan (60), P Shivers for R Johnston (65), J McCann for R Murray (70+5). 

Wicklow: S Doyle, P O’Keane, M Stone, N Devereux, Z Cullen, N Donnelly, E Murtagh (0-01), D Healy, P O’Toole, A Maher (0-01), M Kenny (0-03, 0-01f; 0-01m), D Fitzgerald (0-01), O McGraynor (0-01f), K Quinn (1-00), E Darcy. Subs: T Moran for N Devereux (HT), R Stokes for E Darcy (50), JP Hurley for K Quinn (63), C Maguire for Z Cullen (70). 

Referee: Paul Faloon (An Dun)

Ulster U20 Football Championship

Section A, Round Two

Monaghan 2-8 Antrim 1-6

Antrim U20 footballers showed a remarkable improvement from their performance against Tyrone a fortnight ago but came up just short against Monaghan in Castleblayney on Wednesday night.

Niall Jackman’s side had suffered a heavy loss to Tyrone in their opening game at Dunsilly but the Antrim manager had nothing but praise for the commitment of his panel in an interview during the week.

The manager’s confidence in his panel was vindicated by this performance and while the young Saffrons lost in the end they were competitive throughout this time around, a testament to their resolve.

They were never able to get their noses in front however despite reducing the arrears to one on a couple of occasions and then two late on, but a late Monaghan goal proved decisive in the end.

Monaghan were first to score when Bobby McCaul found the mark after four minutes and a further seven had passed when Packie Coogan-Burke doubled their advantage.

Tom Shivers finally got Antrim on their way, but they were rattled when McCaul fired to the net after 17 minutes to leave Jackman’s side chasing the game for the remainder.

It was a setback for the Saffrons who had been right in it but they responded well with the next three points from Shivers and team captain Tiernan McCormick to close the gap to one and at this stage the visitors were giving as good as they got.

Monaghan had the final say of the half, however, as Fionán Carolan split the uprights to move the Farney into a 1-3 to 0-4 lead.

Tom Shivers was proving a handful for the Farney defence throughout and he got them back to within a point early in the second half.

At this stage an upset looked on the cards but the young Saffrons just couldn’t find an equaliser as a Stephen Mooney free stretched it back to two and then three in identical fashion.

Connlaodh McCann kept the Saffrons in touch but it was as close as they got with a Mooney free putting that goal between the sides and he would add another from play late on after substitute Darragh Mee got his name on the Farney score sheet.

With five between them, it looked like that was it but Antrim grabbed a late lifeline when Johnny Hannon found the net, but Kian Duffy replied for the hosts to stretch the gap to five and that was how it finished.

A second defeat for Antrim in what has rightly been called the group of death but Antrim can take a lot of encouragement from this performance and they certainly restored some pride in the jersey while vindicating Niall Jackman’s praise of his panel earlier in the week.

Monaghan: J Mooney; G Devlin, J McConnon, F Carlolan (0-1); P Doogan-Burke (0-1), T Hughes, S Callan; A Carey, C McQuillan; C Foy, O McGorman, D McKenna; C Conlon, B McCaul (1-1), S Mooney (0-4, 3f).
Subs: K Duffy (1-0) for C Conlon, J McMahon for C McQuillan, D Mee (0-1) for D McKenna, N Sherlock for G Devlin

Antrim: S Laverty; E O’Hare, C Mac Adhaim, C Maginnis; C McCann (0-1), P Duffin, R Quinn; M McCrossan, T Shivers (0-4); C Walsh, E McCartan, N Duffy; T McCormick (0-1), J Hannon (1-0), N Fallon.

Referee: James Lewis