WITH their season over following a 10-point drubbing at the hands of Fermanagh, Antrim boss Frank Fitzsimons was finding it hard to even think about 2016.
It was put to the Saffron manager that Pete McGrath had the Fermanagh players back in a room discussing the future just two weeks following their Qualifier loss to Laois in 2014. When Fitzsimons was asked whether he would follow a similar approach, he admitted things might not move as swiftly.
He said: “I don’t know if it will be as quick as two weeks, but if we are there next year we will have to look at everything and see how we can bring it forward.”
The Lámh Dhearg man cut a dejected figure at the final whistle, saying: “I’m hurting here.
“I’m an Antrim man, I would be hurting if I was sitting in the stands too. We got beat all over the field, so naturally I am hurting.”
Fitzsimons did tip his hat to the Erne men, however, and believes they could have a prolonged run in the Championship. He was particularly impressed with sharp-shooter Seán Quigley, who finished with 14 points.
“Quigley was outstanding today and they are a very strong side,” he said.
“I think they will go a long way in the Qualifiers.”
On his own side, Fitzsimons admitted he had no real explanation for Antrim’s performance on Sunday.
He said: “We were down here the last time and didn’t win then went down to Laois and got the win and there was a real buzz about the county again and among the team.
"This place hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for us, but we just have to move on from here,” he said adding that there will be no hiding from the fact that is was a terrible day at the office.
“The players will be the first to admit and I will admit we were poor today. There is no way of glossing over it. I don’t know what you put it down to, when a team is flat like that, I have seen it happen to lots of teams. It is just one of those days, we just didn’t show up at all.”
The one bright spark for Antrim was the performance of Niall McKeever when he was introduced. The former Brisbane Lion got his hands on a lot of ball around the middle of the field, kicking a point within minutes of his introduction.
“McKeever is a class act, a real good player and we did miss him all day. He showed today when he came on what he can do, he played rightly. But there is no answer to a team falling flat like that.”
For Antrim, their sole priority for 2016 will be to get out of Division Four and start playing at a higher level. But on recent evidence there is nothing to say that they have the consistency needed to gain promotion.
Fermanagh manager Pete McGrath was unavailable for comment after the game.
