A DOMINANT Antrim registered their first League win of the season with a convincing performance against Leitrim in Carrick-on-Shannon yesterday.
CJ McGourty was in sparkling form for Antrim, causing many the Leitrim rearguard constant problems.
A delighted Antrim manager Frank Fitzsimons said afterwards: "We played well today and we have been playing well.
"We just seem to get the breaks today and we got the scores as well when it mattered. The performance was slightly better than the last time [against Longford]. I'll take that result any day.
"Some of the point-taking was fantastic, when we ran at them, their backs drew out and gave our forwards a lot more room to put passes inside. CJ McGourty and Conor Murray took some smashing scores."
The Antrim manager also paid tribute to his defence.
"Our defence was super from start to finish, every one of them. They were fantastic. Chris Kerr's kick-outs were fantastic today," he added
Playing with the breeze, the Saffrons got on top in the opening half and built up a comfortable 1-12 to 1-5 interval lead with Michael Pollock firing home a sixth minute goal for them and McGourty slotting over six points.
After Alan McLoughlin put Leitrim ahead with a fourth minute goal, the home side struggled in the opening half.
But it was level pegging in the opening 12 minutes following the McLoughlin and Pollock goals and an exchange of points from a Kevin Conlan (free) for Leitrim and Antrim's Justin Crozier. When Murray shot over a 13th minute point, he put Antrim into a lead which they never lost before McGourty (left) added another point for the visitors in the following minute.
Conlan replied with three converted frees for Leitrim with Alan McLoughlin adding two points.
However, Antrim put the game well out of Leitrim's reach before the interval.
McGourty led the Antrim onslaught on the Leitrim posts in this period when he fired over five excellent points while Pollock also added a point.
When the break arrived, Antrim had a commanding seven-point lead.
However, Leitrim rallied after the restart and reduced the Antrim lead to four points by the 47th minute with substitute Ronan Kennedy hitting over four points and Paddy McGowan adding a point.
Antrim seemed a little rattled in the opening action of the second half but the visitors still kept their noses well in front when they responded with points from James Laverty and McGourty.
Antrim kept the Leitrim fightback at bay for the last 22 minutes with McGourty converting two frees while Paddy McBride and Owen Gallagher added a point apiece.
A somewhat disappointed Leitrim manager Shane Ward commented afterwards: "It was a bad day at the office for us today. But there were some good things in our performance."
MATCH STATS
Antrim: C Kerr; C Burke, S McVeigh, D Lynch; J Laverty (0-1), J Crozier (0-1), T Scullion;
M McCann, O Gallagher (0-1); C Murray (0-3), T McCann (0-1), P McBride (0-1); C Murray (0-3), M Pollock (1-1), CJ McGourty (0-9, 0-4 frees).
Subs: D McAleese for M McCann (61);
M Fitzpatrick for Murray (62); P McAleer for Lynch (66); B Hasson for Gallagher (73). Leitrim: C McCrann; B Prior, R Gallagher,
N Woods; M McWeeney, G Reynolds,
S McWeeney; J McGrail, D Sweeney (0-1);
P McGowan (0-1), F Clancy, D Beck; K Conlan (0-5, 0-4 frees), D Wrynn, A McLoughlin (1-2). Subs: R. Kennedy (0-4) for Wrynn (35);
T Mulvey for Beck (47); C Gilheaney for Clancy (58).
Referee: N McKenna (Monaghan).