All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Qualifier round 2A:
Fermanagh 1-21 Antrim 0-11
THIS felt like the longest 70 minutes in the history of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. For everybody - apart from Seán Quigley - the final whistle couldn’t come soon enough.
After roughly 30 minutes, the result of this round two Qualifier was never really in doubt. Fermanagh cantered to a 13-point win – and it didn’t flatter them one bit.
The Erne men led 0-11 to 0-5 at the interval and, although Antrim came from nine points down to sink Laois a couple of weeks ago, another Houdini act never looked remotely likely. Fermanagh, for their part, delivered a workmanlike performance and can be happy with how they responded to their Ulster Championship exit to Monaghan two weeks ago.
As far as second halves go, Sunday’s dragged by. For Seán Quigley, it was one of those games he didn’t want to end. Roslea’s finest had a dream day in the Fermanagh attack.
He split Antrim’s posts no fewer than 14 times – seven sumptuous points from play and seven placed balls (two ‘45s). And the big man soaked up the applause for every one of his beauties before being afforded a standing ovation by the Brewster Park crowd when manager Pete McGrath substituted him in the dying embers.
Full-forwards aren’t supposed to hit ridiculous tallies like Quigley’s in the modern game. Full-forwards are supposed to be meat and drink to the blanket defence. But much to Quigley and Fermanagh’s surprise, Antrim dispensed with their defensive screen for yesterday’s return match – and played man-on-man.
The tactic had dire consequences for the Saffrons. Faced with generous grass in front of him, Quigley had a field day. Ricky Johnston and Justin Crozier had spells on the mercurial Fermanagh attacker, but neither could stop him.
Indeed, Johnston and Crozier were in desperate need of the restoration of Antrim’s defensive screen to quell Quigley. Suffice to say, Antrim’s audacious gamble never paid off.
The last day the sides met, Quigley was up against a Saffron wall and was held scoreless from play. Antrim’s problem then was their attack was non-existent. It was about trying to find a balance between defence and attack for the visitors.
That balance, though, proved elusive as Antrim shipped 1-14 from open play on Sunday. Quigley hit points off both feet and fisted one over the bar. It was exhibition stuff.
The visitors could have lost by a bigger margin too, only for a brilliant one-handed save from Antrim ‘keeper Chris Kerr to keep out Paul McCusker’s pile-driver before the break, while Barry Mulrone spurned a late goal chance.
Raiding wing-back Marty O’Brien, however, did take advantage of Antrim’s liberal defending when he burst through a couple of weak challenges and blasted high into the net with 16 minutes remaining to put the home side out of sight (1-17 to 0-9).
And yet, in the early stages, Antrim showed more attacking ambition than they did in their entire Ulster Championship defeat to the same opponents at the end of May. Conor Murray, Mickey Pollock, James Laverty and Owen Gallagher started brilliantly for the visitors.
It was point for point in the opening 12 minutes, the pick of which was Gallagher’s ninth minute score when he slipped past two Fermanagh defenders to find the target. But Gallagher’s fine score was Antrim’s last until the 31st minute.
In between times, the home side racked up six unanswered points, with Quigley nailing the majority of them. Antrim, in fairness, gift-wrapped most of these scores through a series of unforced errors.
Simple passes went astray, there were too many handling errors – and every time Fermanagh broke they looked like scoring.
In the 23rd minute, Conor Murray dropped his effort short and the home side broke down the field at pace with corner-back Niall Cassidy popping up to finish off the move. Between the 12th and 31st minutes was a soul-destroying period for Frank Fitzsimons’s team.
First half substitute Niall McKeever ended Antrim’s scoreless run and Crozier tagged on another fine score from distance, but a Quigley free in first half injury-time gave the Erne men a six-point lead at the break.
CJ McGourty was introduced for the start of the second half which offered Antrim a greater scoring threat. The St Gall’s clubman hit three points in all and could at least claim the best score of the day in the 51st minute. Off-balance and coming under pressure from several defenders, McGourty scissor-kicked the ball over Fermanagh’s bar from distance. But they were all consolation scores at that stage for Antrim.
Quigley’s 58th minute score ran McGourty’s fine effort close when he collected the ball and spun away from Ricky Johnston to send over with his left.
After O’Brien’s three-pointer, Fermanagh could have added one or two more goals but either took pity on their visitors or were complacent with their final ball.
The home side probably expected more from their visitors. As it transpired, the high point of Antrim’s season was their shock win over Laois in round one of the Qualifiers.
In his first year as manager, Frank Fitzsimons has done a decent job in the circumstances. Unable to call upon some of the county’s best players and then losing three more to Boston, it would be unfair to ridicule those who actually adorned the saffron jersey during Sunday’s All-Ireland Qualifier.
The ragged nature of Antrim’s defending in the closing stages should also keep Fermanagh’s celebrations in check ahead of round three of the Qualifiers. But, then again, try telling that to big Seán Quigley whose performance was a heart-warming reminder of the way things used to be for a full-forward.
Fermanagh: T Treacy; M Jones, T Daly, N Cassidy (0-1); D McCusker, J McMahon, M O’Brien (1-0); E Donnelly, R O’Callaghan; B Mulrone (0-1), R Jones, D Kelly; P McCusker (0-1), S Quigley (0-14, 0-5 frees, 0-2 ’45s), T Corrigan (0-1); Subs: D Kille (0-1) for T Corrigan (18), C Jones (0-1) for D McCusker (60), A Breen for M O’Brien (62), C Cullen for R O’Callaghan (66), S McManus (0-1) for S Quigley (70); Yellow cards: D McCusker (30), S Quigley (33).
Antrim: C Kerr (0-1, 45); N Delargy, R Johnston, J Laverty; J Crozier (0-1), T Scullion, S McVeigh; C Murray, B Hasson; D Lynch, D McAleese, M Pollock (0-3, 0-1 free); M Sweeney (0-1), R Murray, O Gallagher (0-1); Subs: N McKeever (0-1) for D Lynch (29), CJ McGourty (0-3, 0-1 free) for D McAleese (h/t), J Dowling for B Hasson (47), R McGrady for S McVeigh (51), C Duffin for R Murray (63), N O’Neill for O Gallagher (59), J Crozier (68, no replacement); Yellow cards: C Murray (7), N Delargy (11), T Scullion (35).
Referee: B Cassidy (Derry).
