Football

Awesome Kildare too strong for Antrim as Lenny Harbinson ponders future

Kildare's Fergal Conway evades James McAuley in Saturday's All-Ireland Qualifier at Corrigan Park Picture Seamus Loughran
Kildare's Fergal Conway evades James McAuley in Saturday's All-Ireland Qualifier at Corrigan Park Picture Seamus Loughran Kildare's Fergal Conway evades James McAuley in Saturday's All-Ireland Qualifier at Corrigan Park Picture Seamus Loughran

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Qualifier Round Two: Antrim 0-14 Kildare 1-25

THE Antrim footballers could be on the lookout for a new manager next season after Lenny Harbinson cast doubt over his position following their heavy All-Ireland Qualifier defeat to a rampant Kildare side on Saturday.

Roughly an hour after the final whistle sounded at a baking hot Corrigan Park, Harbinson described Antrim’s season as a “failure” – but insisted there would be no “knee-jerk reactions” on a day when the Saffrons simply couldn’t compete with the awesome pace and power of the Lilywhites.

While Harbinson guided the side to an impressive All-Ireland Qualifier victory over Louth – the county’s first since 2015 – he traced the team's perceived failure back to their NFL campaign.

“Honestly? I’m disappointed we didn’t get out of Division Four,” said the St Gall’s man, who has held the post for two seasons.

“If you’re exclusively looking at that, then it’s a failure. That maybe a bit hard, but I’m just calling it as it is.

“We set ourselves a goal of getting out of Division Four and we didn’t do it. We all know it was nip and tuck in some games and we finished the League campaign strongly. It gave us a wee bit of momentum...

“It was a mixed bag against Tyrone in the Ulster Championship – a poor first half and then we took the game to them in the second half, and we certainly put in a very good performance against Louth, and against Kildare we only played in fits and starts. So, overall, it has been disappointing.”

Antrim trailed 0-13 to 0-6 at the break and Kildare doubled that advantage in the second half with midfielder and man-of-the-match Fergal Conway grabbing a stunning 1-2 to demoralise their hosts.

Harbinson added: “There are a number of factors. First and foremost, the players are the most important: what do they want? There is the county board, and then, of course, it’s a massive commitment, including my management team.

“So, we all have to take a step back, no knee-jerk reactions and look at where we’re at, how we performed – be it players, be it management – and ask can we add value next year? They are reasonable questions that everybody should be asking.”

The great thing about Corrigan Park is that you get a virtual worm’s eye view of the action at pitch-side; the 2,000 supporters that filed into the west Belfast venue on Saturday afternoon could discern as early as the opening seconds of the game the deep chasm in fitness and athleticism between the sides.

Given their own demanding training regime since November, the Antrim players couldn’t have been any fitter for their Championship campaign.

But to then encounter a jet-propelled Kildare side must have been a sickening experience for many of them.

Harbinson said: “When you’re dealing with teams from Division One and Two, their movement, their thought process and skill execution is all done at a higher pace. The only way we can help ourselves is trying to play in a higher League in due course and that’s getting out of Division Four so that you are exposed to that calibre of footballer.”

No matter how hard the Antrim players tried they could never get touch-tight to their opponents.

Kildare completely strangled Padraig Nugent’s kick-outs and scythed through Antrim’s sweeper system as if it wasn’t there.

Antrim’s victories would inevitably be small ones. Full-back Ricky Johnston kept the highly rated Ben McCormack on a tight leash, forcing the Kildare full-forward to drop deeper to get involved in the game.

Conceding height and weight advantages, Lamh Dhearg’s Kevin Quinn battled gamely against Kildare’s imposing midfield.

Captain Declan Lynch was still chasing lost causes deep into stoppage-time.

Corner-back Patrick McCormick showed brave ambition to push forward to support the Antrim attack, while some last-gasp defending from Patrick Gallagher denied Keith Cribbin a goal just before the interval.

Conor Murray’s pace and ball carrying ability into enemy territory was one glowing feature of Antrim’s display on Saturday, with his sublime 39th minute point reminding Kildare that there was genuine quality in the hosts’ attack.

And in Patrick McBride and Matt Fitzpatrick, Antrim have two breathtaking talents.

It is often speculated these kinds of players that ply their trade in the lower echelons of the game could command a place in any of the top teams in the country.

McBride and Fitzpatrick genuinely could.

Kildare couldn’t get a handle on McBride throughout, the St John’s man hitting six points from play on home soil.

Fitzpatrick, McBride’s club-mate, has been one of the undoubted stars of this year’s Championship – and he signed off with a classy second-half display that yielded three points.

When Fergal Conway intercepted Nugent’s angled kick-out in the 40th minute only to thump the ball into the corner of the Antrim net seconds later, there was deep concern among the home support that Kildare could win by a cricket score.

Conway’s major put the Lilywhites 1-15 to 0-8 ahead and they landed another seven points between the 45th and 51st minutes.

Antrim, to their credit, did well to hit three points in a row between the 63rd and 66th minutes but it didn’t appear to make an impression on the yawning deficit on the Corrigan Park scoreboard.

Second-half substitute Tommy Moolick was unstoppable for Kildare. So, too, was corner-forward Neil Flynn who top-scored with eight points (0-3 frees) before injury curtailed his afternoon.

As Harbinson ponders his future, Kildare boss Cian O’Neill must feel they can make a return to the Super 8s after suffering a Leinster semi-final loss to Dublin.

“One of the most pleasing things was the application for the vast majority of the game,” O’Neill said. “We probably would have been rightly criticised in the past for playing in patches and letting teams back into it, but the lads stuck to the task for large periods.

“We got a bit of a lesson against Dublin in the second half, so all we’re trying to do is build match by match. I think any team that looks past that, especially with the teams that are in the Qualifiers you could be in for a rude awakening.”

After winning the right to host Mayo at Newbridge in last summer’s All-Ireland Qualifiers, O’Neill said it was correct Antrim secured home advantage for Saturday’s encounter.

“This was Antrim’s entitlement. These are the rules,” said the Kildare manager.

“What happened last year should never happen again.

“Once we knew where we were playing and what time, that was it, whereas last year there was probably a bit of noise about the whole thing.

“From we arrived in Corrigan Park, from the stewards on the road, the club members of Naomh Eoin were phenomenal, the pitch was in top class condition. Everything about it was exactly as you’d want for a Championship match.

“Regional venues should be looked at for a lot more games because it creates a great atmosphere.”

Antrim: P Nugent; P McCormick, R Johnston, P Gallagher; D Lynch, M Johnston, N Delargy; C Duffin, K Quinn; J McAuley (0-1), M Fitzpatrick (0-3), S Beatty (0-1); R Murray (0-2 frees), P McBride (0-6), C Murray (0-1) Subs: E Walsh for M Johnston (h/t), R Scott for S Beatty (h/t), R McNulty for K Quinn (48), J Smith for R Murray (54), M McCarry for C Murray (60)

Yellow card: P McBride (44), R McNulty (64)

Kildare: M Donnellan; M Dempsey, M O’Grady (0-1), P Kelly; C O’Donoghue, E Doyle, D Hyland; K Feely (0-2), F Conway (1-2); D Slattery, C Healy, K Cribben; A Tyrell (0-7, 0-4 frees), B McCormack, N Flynn (0-8, 0-3 frees) Subs: T Moolick (0-1) for K Cribbin (h/t), M Hyland for C O’Donoghue (43), E O’Flaherty for D Slattery (44), C Hartley for P Kelly (54), J Gibbons (0-1) for A Tyrell (57), N Flynn (58 not replaced)

Yellow cards: C O’Donoghue (6), D Slattery (16)

Black cards: C Healy replaced by J Hyland (0-3) (12-13)

Referee: N Mooney (Cavan)