Antrim Football Thread

[under the bar]

Which teams do Antrim at home in the league?  Might go and have a look at them.

[118cmal]

fermanagh is one anyway

[aontroim]

At home to Sligo this Sunday - a must win to start with and a good test for the squad minus St. Gall's players.

[glens abu]

Benny Tierney in todays Irish News says that CJ has been welcomed back into the Antrim fold,did anyone hear anything about this?

[Glensman]

It was in yesterday's Irish News as well. Hachet must have been buried.

[glens abu]

Hope he has learned to behave,good player and def could be asset,think it has to be his last chance 

[SambaSaffron]

Benny Tierney in todays Irish News says that CJ has been welcomed back into the Antrim fold,did anyone hear anything about this?

Aye it was in yesterday' paper as well. He'll be back after St Galls finish. Doesn't mention Sean Kelly.

[glens abu]

Benny Tierney in todays Irish News says that CJ has been welcomed back into the Antrim fold,did anyone hear anything about this?

Aye it was in yesterday' paper as well. He'll be back after St Galls finish. Doesn't mention Sean Kelly.

I thought Kelly already said he was coming back this year.

[aontroim]

Kelly is already back on the panel (after Gall's commitments) was told from other players he has been to the team meetings etc at the start of the year.

[pebble-dasher]

Great to get the two points today as it could have either way in the final minutes.
Slow start as always to go 3-0 down but after 15minutes we started to win midfield and finished the half strongly.  Slow start again in second half but tagged on a few more points and held on.  Crozier was my man of the match.  Also was impressed with G O'Boyle when he came on, looked sharp.  Douglas steadied the defence when he came on early in the second half.

[imtommygunn]

Great result minus the st galls contingent. Didn't make it to the fame.

Who did we have in midfield alongside McCann? I didn't catch the team. This is all I know...

McGreevey, McCann, Doherty, O'Boyle, Scullion, Crozier, ??, McCann, , T McCann, ?, Loughrey, Cunningham, Magill, O'Connell

Can anyone fill in the blanks?

[imtommygunn]

Small half forward line...

Any reports on who played well?

Be interested to know how Brendy Herron and O'Hagan got on... Some back up for midfield would be good. I'd like to see Mick McCann CHF if Magill works out at FF so hoping we get a midfield partner for Gallagher from this league.

[Minder]

Small half forward line...

Any reports on who played well?

Be interested to know how Brendy Herron and O'Hagan got on... Some back up for midfield would be good. I'd like to see Mick McCann CHF if Magill works out at FF so hoping we get a midfield partner for Gallagher from this league.

Brendan Herron got MOM.

[Gold]

Cant believe Herron got MOM. I would have gave it to Scullion--he never stopped.

Mick McCann hit a couple of great scores in the 1st half from distance.

Magill started ok winning ball but faded.

O'Hagan did rightly, scored Antrims first point and was steady on the ball.

David Kelly for Sligo was an absolute flyer--he was out in front of O'Boyle to every ball and made them tick although i dont think he scored and put his only shot wide.

McGreevy --safe, no shots to save but caught a couple of ball no problem. Was half blocked down at one stage near the end tho tryin to clear a ball--but couldnt fault him

D McCann--let 3 balls slip through his hands when not under pressure
P Doherty--Ok, not bad, took off near start of 2nd half when i thought O'Boyle should've went off
K O'Boyle--2nd to every ball bar one (when Kelly was looking it over the top) cant be faulted as noone could stick with Kelly's pace but for me he was too nice --standing behind him and not laying a hand on him (would Ricey or Francie have done the same? Naive)

Scullion--never stopped, hard into the tackle --still kicks when he could give a simple handpass but in fairness most of his kicks were accurate --My MOM
Crozier--On the front foot on the ball, always driving forward, got his foot hand in etc and was on the whole great
O'Hagan--Scored good first point, steady on the ball, didnt see too much of the ball however (his man may have scored 0-7 by my count but these were nearly all frees)

McCann--was very good, scored 2 great points (at least) doesnt win enough clean high catches for me though but is a great foil for a massive ball winning midfielder --his best position is midfield tho i think
Herron--was good, worked hard--took one great high catch when stayed in front of his man (as you always should when you are smaller ,something McCann doesnt do ,McCann tries his big run to get the knee up over the back of someone, this works at club, but at county if your smaller you have to stand in front, easiest way not to give away a clean catch)

Close --worked hard, hit one good point near end of 1st half--busy
Tomas--worked hard also, non stop but not his best day--with a couple to go and the sides level he was running through the middle and seemed to be dragged down but to the crowds astonishment no free was given --the ref realised his mistake and gave us a free straight after when we shot wide (think it was G O'Boyle) and he was minimally touched (never a free. Not Tomas' best day he'll suit the harder turf later on in year. Still too small to throw boys outta the way at this time of year and really penetrate defence.
Loughrey--worked hard, made scores and made a few interceptions. I think he should run more at players when he's on the ball as he wont be stopped--he takes the safe option to often. Half back is his best position but is needed in the forward line as he provides much needed penetration.

P Cunningham --did ok --didnt see too much of ball but prob ended up with 1-4 --scored the pen after Scullion was pushed by keeper when shooting. Scored a few frees and the eventual winner(i'm nearly sure) from out on the left from a tight
angle
Magill--won a fair bit of ball in front of McGuire which is good going and generally used it well apart from one stupid left foot shot when he should have passed --seemed to pull up near end of 1st half and only lasted about 15 of 2nd.
O'Connell--worked hard but wasnt his day, slipped and dropped possession when he looked to have won it a few times --replaced in 2nd half

subs
Douglas (for P Doherty) came on start on 2nd half and did well --found going tough enough against speedy Stepehen Coen but generally did good
Murray (for O'Connell) did ok but didnt see much ball
G O'Boyle (for Magill) came on and immedietely scored a great point at the end of a great move. Then kicked a shot short and did nothing else
K Brady (for Close i think) touched the ball about once and moved it on

Was a great win but could have gone either way-we had all early possession but couldnt score and then went 0-3 down. We then came back to equalise got the goal and went 6 up 1 min before half time but gave up 2 cheap points to go in 4 up.

We stopped dead in 2nd half when we should have pushed on. Cleaned at midfield with Kelly out in front time after time. We struggled bigtime for scores and never looked like scoring. We only scored about 4 in 2nd half --a couple of rees and those from O'Boyle and P Cunningham.

Great win but never secure a it should have been after we went 6 up.

Still though great that Antrim have stopped snatching defeat (or draws like Offaly 2 year ago) from the jaws of victory

[imtommygunn]

Yeah - good man Gold.

Exactly what I was hoping for.

Sounds like midfield faded. With Magill going off there'd have been a lack of ball winner in FF line.

Your man Kelly is an absolute flying machine but O'Boyle, to me, isn't near aggressive enough anyway.