Football

Down breeze into Ulster semi-finals against hapless Antrim

Kevin McKernan got the all-important goal for Down on Saturday night
Kevin McKernan got the all-important goal for Down on Saturday night Kevin McKernan got the all-important goal for Down on Saturday night

Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-final: Down 1-18 Antrim 0-14

THE Down footballers won’t have many easier nights in the Ulster Championship. When you’re facing a team that has been competing at the lower end of League football for as long as Antrim have, the result is virtually inevitable.

On the Championship stage, every mistake is magnified – and Antrim made far too many on the night.

Played in front of over 5,000 supporters in Pairc Esler, it was a muted occasion from start to finish.

Antrim packed their defence, hoping that Down would self-destruct, but the visitors didn’t have the offensive know-how to cause their hosts any notable stress.

The visitors conceded the softest of goals just before half-time – with Kevin McKernan providing the finish – and that, as they say, was that.

Antrim were never coming back from a 1-9 to 0-5 half-time deficit.

Shay Millar, Donal O’Hare, Peter Turley, Niall McParland, Darren O’Hagan and McKernan – before the latter was black-carded on the cusp of half-time – all impressed for the home side.

“I’m disappointed to lose by seven points and I’m disappointed from the aspect that I know the commitment and determination and effort these lads have put in over the last six or seven months,” said a dejected Antrim boss Lenny Harbinson.

“Tactically, we were trying to keep the game tight so we were trying to play a certain way and then to concede a goal a few minutes just before half-time…

“It meant the course of the game was going to take a different shape in the second half. Having said that, it was good that the team actually stepped up and didn’t sit back. We took the game to Down and there were some very good performances and hopefully some of the Antrim supporters can see that there is something within this panel."

Harbinson added: “We’re very realistic that we’re Division Four, and it’s not an excuse, but the reality of the situation is we’re playing against a team that’s ventured between Division One and Two over the last number of years. It’s a tough learning curve for all of us in management as well as in the panel.”

Saturday’s Championship encounter was akin to a conditioned game of defence versus attack. Down attacked and Antrim defended in big numbers.

The visitors claimed a couple of small victories. Ricky Johnston did a decent marking job on Connaire Harrison while inside-forward Ryan Murray offered some resistance in the Antrim attack, claiming three hard-earned points from play.

Antrim rarely pressed up on Down’s kick-outs, while Down’s full court press on Chris Kerr’s kick-outs proved very effective.

“Down put a press on us so, tactically, that was smart. We had other tactics up our sleeve, which I felt we didn’t deploy to counter that, but I can understand sometimes when you go short you win a higher percentage of your kick-outs - particularly if you kick it 60 metres up the field the opposition will get around the ball. So there are ways and means and we just have to work harder on our kick-out strategy because it’s critical in the modern game.”

Down boss Eamonn Burns was content with the night’s work.

“We won and that was the main thing,” said the Bryansford man, who was able to substitute Caolan Mooney, Harrison and O’Hare in the closing stages.

“Antrim was always a banana skin. They came well prepared and organised. It took us a wee bit of time to settle in but once we did and got our systems running I thought we coped okay.”

Burns had anticipated Antrim’s defensive tactics, adding: “Although I haven’t seen Antrim ‘live’ I got a wee bit of DVD stuff and they can set up quite defensively so we’d planned for that.”

Of course, one of the sub plots in Saturday night’s Championship clash in Newry was the fact that former Antrim manager Gearoid Adams was in the Down camp.

“I’m just glad it’s over,” said a relieved Adams afterwards.

“It was a difficult day for Gearoid,” Burns acknowledged.

“Gearoid’s an Antrim man, he played for Antrim and he managed Antrim. So we didn’t lean on him too heavily. If he wanted to volunteer we took the information but I’m sure he’s glad it’s out of the way now.”

Although Down got relegated this season, Burns was happy with a lot of aspects of their play in Division Two.

“We had a lot of very good performances in the League,” he said. “Our problem was our decision-making in front of goal. If our decision-making had been a little bit sharper we would have been okay in Division Two but you live and die. Our decision-making was better against Antrim at times.”