In the Ulster SFC quarter-final match held on a Saturday evening at Páirc Esler, Down narrowly defeated Antrim with a score of 0-13 to 0-9. Although the spectacle wasn’t precisely exhilarating, Down managed to secure their spot in the semi-final against the Sunday’s victors between Armagh and Fermanagh, despite some rough patches in their play.
The game opened with a handful of incidents, including a pre-match altercation between Down’s Odhrán Murdock and Antrim’s Joseph Finnegan, leading to both players being shown yellow cards by the referee Barry Cassidy. The evening saw a total of five debutants from Andy McEntee’s team.
For Down, there were three alterations to the match lineup, one of which involved Barry O’Hagan from the Clonduff club, making his return after an extensive layoff due to a cruciate ligament injury last season against Antrim. Kilcoo’s Shealan Johnston was another welcome return from injury.
The game was won by a narrow margin; Down making one more point while Finnegan compelled a remarkable goal save from Down’s goaltender, John O’Hare. Antrim’s keeper, Michael Byrne, exploited the favourable wind conditions and turned the resultant 45 into a point in the 9th minute.
Due to Antrim’s strong defensive structure, Down found it rather challenging to infiltrate their ranks despite commanding more of the ball. The first half ended with Down rallying and gaining four of the next five points to lead by 0-6 to 0-3 at the half-time whistle. Dermot McAleese represented Antrim’s side kicking the ball wide at the start of the second half – his side’s third wide, while Down had recorded six in the first half.
In the opening half, Oisín Savage substituted Havern and managed to score a mark to enhance Down’s advantage. Then, Daniel Guinness took the lead to 0-8 to 0-3 with a scored point on his 38th minute. However, Patrick McBride’s and Ryan McQuillan’s subsequent frees, following a Liam Kerr foul close to the penalty area, narrowed Antrim’s lag to 0-8 to 0-5, just a three-point deficit.
As the three next penalties for Antrim commenced and the count of misses increased, Guinness’ second fisted point and Kerr’s lovely score were neutralized by Marc Jordan’s and Eoghan McCabe’s goals. Kerr further improved Down’s lead to 0-11 to 0-7 with a free taken over the bar before the regular time came to the last five minutes. However, the game was put on hold for a while as Eunan Walsh of Antrim suffered an injury and needed to be stretchered off, causing the game to be extended for nine more minutes after resuming.
Rapid scores by Shane Annett and Ceilum Doherty boosted Down’s lead to six, despite Antrim retorting with several free kicks to stay in the game. As the clock advanced, these free kicks turned out to be the final scores of the match, which concluded with Down emerging victorious with a score of 0-13 to 0-9.
Team Down included members like J O’Hare, P Fegan, R McEvoy who scored 0-2, C Doherty, and M Rooney who registered the 0-1 score among others. The substitutes included O Savage, who scored 0-3 and replaced Havern within the first 24 minutes, E Brown and others.
In a recent match, we saw M Byrne score a point from a 45 for Antrim. With R Boyle, E Walsh and K Keenan defending, D Lynch, J Finnegan and D McAleese played as half-backs. At centre, C Hynds and M Jordan each added a point, while C Hand, P McBride and E McCabe each chipped in with a point of their own. R McQuillan was high scorer with three points, two of which were from frees, and R McCann added a free. Unfortunately, D McEnhill had to be substituted at half-time for N Burns. Later P McAleer replaced Boyle after 52 minutes of gameplay; then E Hynds subbed for Walsh at the 65th minute. Finally, P Shivers switched out for McQuillan after 7 minutes of extra time. All calls were arbitrated by Barry Cassidy hailing from Derry.