Antrim 1-20 Westmeath 2-19 #JoeMcDonaghCup

Report via Saffron Gael

Joe McDonagh Cup – Round 4

Antrim 1-20 Westmeath 2-19

Brendan McTaggart reports from TEG Cusack Park, Mullingar

As the players began to make their way out of the changing rooms in the TEG Cusack Park stand and back to the team bus, a feint murmur could be heard.  “What do we have to do to get a break in this game.”  To be fair to Sambo McNaughton, he wasn’t the only one thinking those sentiments.  Antrim suffered another heart breaking narrow defeat in Westmeath to leave the Saffrons needing a favour to make the McDonagh Cup Final.

On a blisteringly hot afternoon in the Lake County, Antrim showed their Jekyll and Hyde attributes once again through the 70 minutes.  A solid and fine start was followed by a dip.  And by dip I mean crash.  After 15 minutes Antrim were three points ahead yet by the short whistle they trailed by eight.  It’s happened this team so often, it could nearly be patented as the ‘Saffron Dip.’ Antrim just couldn’t get their game going while everything was dropping for Westmeath.  Paul Greville was sweeping for the home side and every Antrim delivery was finding the Westmeath centre half.  The delivery into the forwards during that 15 to 20 minutes was lacking but Greville and the Westmeath defence were stupendous.  Where Antrim’s interplay and passing may have been loose, Westmeath’s by and large was crisp and precise.  Incisive and productive.

The Westmeath first goal came as a major blow to Antrim and it came moments after Antrim could have had a goal of their own.  Nigel Elliott, so deadly in recent matches, found his shot blocked.  Neil McManus pointed the rebound to give Antrim lead 0-6 to 0-3 and it was on the balance of play, a fair reflection of Antrim’s efforts.  Then Westmeath prayed on a fragile Saffron confidence.  The home side pressurised a defender into giving a stray pass and the Saffron defence was opened.  Eoin Price gathered the sliotar and headed for Ryan Elliott’s goal.  The Westmeath midfielder carried direct before getting his shot away only for Elliott to save superbly.  The sliotar fell for Ciaran Doyle and he made no mistake from point blank range.  Fourteen minutes into the game and Doyle’s major brought Westmeath level yet it was scarcely deserving such was the efforts of Antrim in those opening exchanges.

Mistakes crept in.  Uncharacteristic errors and Westmeath took over.  Antrim looked ragged and but for some last gasp defending from Eoghan Campbell, Westmeath could have had a second goal just four minutes after Doyle’s strike.  Gaps started appearing and Antrim were putting out fires everywhere.  Their main fire marshal?  John ‘Rocky’ Dillon.  Rocky by name, a rock by nature.  Like the great Diarmuid ‘The Rock’ O’Sullivan would have lead by example for Cork yesteryear, Rocky was putting in a performance for the ages.  At times he looked isolated and there were times he was definitely outnumbered but Rocky was immense.

Four points separated the sides when disaster struck for Antrim again.  At a time when they needed the half time whistle to regroup, they were dealt a hammer blow thanks to a second Westmeath goal.  Niall O’Brien collecting a long ball before leaving two Antrim defenders in his wake with a delightful turn.  His finish was expert, but there was more than a question over-carrying in his run towards Elliott’s goal.  No foul given by the match referee and Antrim faced an uphill task.  By the time the Clare official called for time on the first half, they were eight points down and facing into the abyss.  Apart from McManus, the Antrim forward unit weren’t firing and it looked like we were in for another long afternoon in the Lake County.

What this Antrim team have is character though and they never lay down.  Where there’s a chance or a glimmer of hope, they’ll never stop trying to find a way.  Like the Laois game two weeks ago, the Saffrons came out of the changing rooms for the second half rejuvenated and while they managed to keep Westmeath scoreless for the first 22 minutes, they hit enough scores to retake the lead, thanks in no small way to the impact of half time substitute Keelan Molloy.  To coin a phrase from a previous report, a ‘saffron patch.’  Desire, commitment, drive and determination were apparent in abundance as Antrim put in a hugely improved performance after the restart.  Molloy’s major coming from reading the break of the sliotar before taking on the Westmeath defence and winning.  Antrim were tackling with ferocity, playing with a purpose and suddenly Westmeath were looking shaky.  They were now looking like a team that needed a piece of inspiration in a maroon in white shirt, what they got was wave after wave of Saffron brilliance.

Allan Devine ended his team’s drought when he scored his fifth point of the match in the 57th minute, Westmeath’s first score of the second half to break the Saffron momentum and now we had a game on our hands.  Two teams going toe to toe in an arm wrestle for supremacy.  An Antrim point was quickly followed by a Westmeath equaliser as the teams traded scores before the defining moment of the match.  Conor McCann had been moved to the edge of the square from half time and was going through a mountain of work and the Creggan man thought he had bagged the Saffron’s second major in the 65th minute.  Simon McCrory, himself putting in a superhuman effort in the second half in the Antrim defence, launched a high ball that dropped short.  McCann got the deftest of touches and the Antrim bench raised as one.  The turnaround was complete and it felt like the game defining score.  Not so.  Antrim’s cheers turned to Westmeath roars as the referee called a ‘square ball’ infringement after consulting with his umpires.  A hugely contentious decision but two minutes later, the momentum swung in Antrim’s favour once again.  The home side were reduced to 14 men when Brendan Coyle received a second yellow card with four minutes remaining.  McManus fired over the resulting free to take his tally to 0-13 for the match but that was the Saffrons last score.  As the heat intensified and the game went to the death, Westmeath found another gear.  Liam Varley and Niall Mitchell fired over in the last minute of normal time before Antrim and McManus had another opportunity to draw level after a foul on substitute Daniel McCloskey.  It was a free too far for the Ruairi Og clubman though as his effort from the most acute of angles went to the left of the posts and wide.

Devine scored another contentious ’65 in injury time as Westmeath used all their gamesmanship and knowhow to see out the time that remained.  Antrim were outraged when the ref called time, not allowing for the home sides delaying tactics and once again the Saffrons were left with a bitter taste after 70 minutes of pulsating, brilliant championship hurling.

A sense of injustice with several decisions through the match but certainly a sense of another one that got away.  We’ve done the math and had the calculators out, Antrim now need a favour from Westmeath when they play Carlow next weekend.  A victory for the Lake County and an Antrim win over Kerry will see the Saffrons play Westmeath in the McDonagh Cup Final.  At the moment it is if’s, but’s and maybe’s.  For now, it’s what might have been.  Maybe we’ll get that break Sambo was talking about next weekend.  Bring on the Kingdom.

TEAMS

Antrim: Ryan Elliott; Arron Graffin, John Dillon, Conor McKinley; Simon McCrory, Paddy Burke, David Kearney; James McNaughton, Eoghan Campbell; Conor McCann, Neil McManus, Nigel Elliott; Eddie McCloskey, Conor Johnston, Ciaran Clarke.

Subs: Keelan Molloy for E McCloskey (HT); Donal McKinley for J McNaughton (45); Dan McCloskey for N Elliott (69)

Yellow Cards: S McCrory (4)

Red Cards: None

Westmeath: Paddy Carroll; Shane Power, Tommy Doyle, Brendan Doyle; Liam Varley, Paul Greville, Derek McNicholas; Eoin Price, Joey Boyle; Aonghus Clarke, Robbie Greville, Niall O’Brien; Allan Devine, Niall Mitchell, Ciaran Doyle

Subs: John Gilligan for J Boyle (55); Darragh Clinton for C Doyle (60)

Yellow Cards: Brendan Doyle (39, 66); Tommy Doyle (48)

Red Cards: Brendan Doyle (66)

Scorers for Antrim: N McManus 0-13 (7 fs); K Molloy 1-00; Conor McCann 0-2; Nigel Elliott 0-1; Conor Johnston 0-1; Paddy Burke 0-1; John Dillon 0-1

Westmeath: A Devine 0-7 (3 fs, 3 ‘65’s); N O’Brien 1-2; C Doyle 1-2; N Mitchell 0-3; L Varley 0-2; P Greville 0-1; A Clarke 0-1; R Greville 0-1

Referee: Rory McGann (Clare)