Football

Antrim footballers unchanged for Qualifier against Louth

Matthew Fitzpatrick acquitted himself well against Tyrone and will look to lead Antrim to victory tomorrow. Picture by Cliff Donaldson.
Matthew Fitzpatrick acquitted himself well against Tyrone and will look to lead Antrim to victory tomorrow. Picture by Cliff Donaldson. Matthew Fitzpatrick acquitted himself well against Tyrone and will look to lead Antrim to victory tomorrow. Picture by Cliff Donaldson.

ANTRIM manager Lenny Harbinson has kept faith with the side that lost 2-23 to 2-9 against Tyrone in the Ulster SFC quarter-finals for tomorrow’s round one Qualifier against Louth at Drogheda’s Gaelic Grounds.

Despite the one-sided look to the scoreline, Antrim had some excellent individual performers against Tyrone, particularly from St John’s midfielder Matt Fitzpatrick, Paddy McBride and Ryan Murray. Meanwhile, debutants Patrick McCormick and James McAuley also impressed on a difficult night for the Saffrons who were 16 points adrift at half-time but rallied with two second half goals.

Both counties go into the game on the back of emphatic defeats in their provincial Championships. Louth were hammered by a rampant Dublin side at the quarter-final stage in Leinster - the game finished 5-21 to 0-10 in favour of the five in-a-row chasing All-Ireland champions.

However, Louth did show some decent form in Division Three – Antrim played their football in Division Four – and they did account for Wexford in their Championship opener. The ‘Wee County’ won 0-22 to 1-14 with James Califf (0-5) and Ryan Burns (0-4) among a good spread of scorers.

Antrim (All-Ireland Qualifiers v Louth): P Nugent; P McCormick, R Johnston, P Gallagher; P McBride, D Lynch, N Delargy; C Duffin, S Beatty; J McAuley, M Fitzpatrick; K Quinn, R Murray, J Smith

Subs: E Walsh, A Hasson, M McCarry, J Dowling, R McNulty, J Mallon, C Mallon, R Scott, C Murray, P Branagan, F Burke