Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup Section A, round 2: Antrim v Cavan (Glenavy, 2pm Sunday)
4-20 conceded, 2-11 scored were the headline numbers from Antrim’s McKenna Cup opener against Tyrone, but boss Lenny Harbinson was also interested in another figure – 29 out of 30.
That was the squad attendance at Thursday night’s strength and conditioning session and Harbinson viewed that almost 100 per cent turnout as a great positive after the heavy loss to the Red Hands.
“It was telling that we had 29 of the 30 squad members at our strength and conditioning session [on Thursday] so the players weren’t at all discouraged by the defeat.”
Harbinson is particularly happy that the players are ‘buying in’ to that aspect of training, noting that Antrim have much work to do in that regard in order to catch up with other counties:
“Tyrone are the result of years of work, including their renowned strength and conditioning work under Peter Donnelly, whereas we have only had a few weeks along that road.
“The management team are looking at areas such as this, and video analysis and nutrition, but we know this will take time. We aren’t aiming to be a ‘one-season wonder’, we are well aware it will take 18 to 24 months to get us closer to where we want to be.”
The gulf between the Ulster champions and one of the traditionally weaker football counties in the province was wide enough on Wednesday, but Harbinson was realistic about what he witnessed at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh:
“I was fairly pleased with what we produced against one of the top four teams in Ireland, who were in last year’s All-Ireland semi-finals and will have serious All-Ireland aspirations.
“Obviously I’d have preferred not to concede as much as we did but Tyrone have that scoring power.
“We were happy to score 2-11 ourselves against a team as strong defensively as Tyrone.”
Perhaps the best part of Antrim’s two goals was when they came, in the final quarter of the game – and the second arrived after Tyrone had stretched their lead to 20 points.
“We said at half-time not to let the heads drop, to keep going until the end, and we did that, getting two goals. That shows character,” said Harbinson.
Despite the positives taken from their difficult opener against the Red Hands, Antrim are now unlikely to progress to the last four of this competition.
The Saffrons will need to win both their remaining matches – with St Mary’s to visit Woodlands next Wednesday night – and also overturn the scoring deficit that Tyrone inflicted at the Athletic Grounds.
Cavan are the visitors tomorrow and Harbinson commented: “Cavan will be another step up for us; they have Division One experience from last year.
“I’m delighted to have another competitive game as part of our preparation for the National League start at the end of the month. That is our main focus.”
The team that took on Tyrone was a blend of experienced men with some newcomers and Harbinson intends to give out more game-time to his squad in advance of their Division Four campaign. Conor Hamill and Niall Delargy were mentioned as likely to come in to the starting side, with the latter having had half an hour against Mickey Harte’s men. The Antrim side will be finalised tomorrow.
While Antrim include the Murray brothers, Conor and Ryan, from their county champions Lamh Dhearg, Cavan manager Mattie McGleenan is not calling on any of their Cavan Gaels, who went went all the way to the Ulster Final, beating the Hannahstown club well in their opener, then disposing of Fermanagh’s Derrygonnelly after a dramatic semi-final replay, before succumbing to Slaughtneil.
Even without the Gaels contingent Cavan came back late to beat St Mary’s in midweek and can assume that another win will set them up for table-topping tussle at home to McGleenan’s native Tyrone next Wednesday night.
The Eglish man certainly wants to progress, concluding: “I would like very much to be in the semi-finals, that would be my aim. I was disappointed last year that we just fell away in the last 10, 15 minutes against Jordanstown [Ulster University], or we would have been in the semi-finals.
“The best way for new players to learn about this level is to play at this level, so the more games we can get over the next fortnight or so will bring us on.”
Win tickets to the
Dr McKenna Cup final
Have your say and be in with a chance of winning a pair of tickets to the Dr McKenna Cup final this month.
Everyone who sends in a comment to Off The Fence up to January 24 will go into a draw for a chance to win the tickets.
A selection of your comments will appear in Thursday's Irish News print edition and on our website at www.irishnews.com
Contact us by ...
EMAIL: offthefence@irishnews.com
PHONE: 24-hour Comment Line on 028 (048 from Republic) 90337457
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/irishnewssport/
TWITTER: direct message us at www.twitter.com/irishnewssport
