Sport

Antrim pose few problems

In this All-Ireland qualifier at Casement Park there was rarely a hint that Antrim would overturn the result of their battle …

Mon Jun 25 2001 - 01:00

In this All-Ireland qualifier at Casement Park there was rarely a hint that Antrim would overturn the result of their battle with Derry in the Ulster Championship at Celtic Park. The three-point winning margin for Derry hid the real story as they shot 16 wides to Antrim's five.

The game, a poor spectacle, should have been over at half-time yet Derry led by just 0-5 to 0-4. They had eight wides chalked up by then and home goalkeeper Sean McGreevy had slid out to make a great save from Patrick Bradley.

It took half back Fergal Crossan a minute to open the Derry account and by the time Antrim raised their first flag in the 16th minute the winners had three points on the board and four wides. At this stage Enda Muldoon was causing major problems to the Antrim defence.

Fergal Doherty and Anthony Tohill were in control in midfield despite the best efforts of Pat O'Connor but the Antrim defence tightened considerably and the introduction of Enda McLarnon for the injured Gavin Bell curbed the wiles of Bradley.

READ MORE

The first half was rather tempestuous with Derry's McBride, Bradley and Fergal Doherty booked and Antrim's O'Connor also seeing yellow, but it never got out of hand.

When defender Johnny Niblock stormed forward to score in the 30th minute Derry were 0-5 to 0-2 ahead but Antrim got on top for the remainder of the half. Gaps were found for Peter McCann and Kevin Madden to snatch points. Indeed, had Madden noticed Kevin Brady ghosting inside a goal might have been the result.

At just a point adrift it seemed Antrim were in with a chance but the 10 minutes after the restart wiped away those ideas. Bradley, McBride and Muldoon tossed over Derry points and it took Antrim until 56th minute to get their next score - a pointed free-kick by Anton Finnegan.

Derry also had a dry spell from the 45th to the 59th minutes but in between McGreevy brought off another superb save from McBride (red-carded in the 61st minute).

Antrim were without Paddy Logan and Johnny Barr. "`You just can't replace players like that," said Antrim manager Brian White.