O’Neill hungry for Saffron success

ANTRIM attacker Terry O’Neill insists tomorrow’s NFL Division 3 decider carries a massive incentive despite promotion having been secured.

O’Neill is one of nine players from All-Ireland club champions St Gall’s who recently linked up with Liam Bradley’s squad and that influx of personnel guarantees serious competition for places in the Saffron starting 15.

“Competition for places in the Antrim squad this year is fierce,” says O’Neill. “We’ve got the likes of Sean Kelly and Micheal Magill back. Everyone wants to prove their worth and this will be our last competitive outing before the Tyrone game in the championship. Players will want to do well against Sligo. There is another title at stake, it’s another trophy, another medal and it’s at Croke Park.”

After their historic St Patrick’s Day success with St Gall’s, O’Neill admits it has taken some time for them to readjust to intercounty involvement.

“It was tough enough getting back into it with Antrim because you had to come down from the high of winning in Croke Park, maybe not physically but mentally. Liam gave us a couple of weeks off and after the Louth game we got another break. Since the Wexford game, we’ve been fully focused on the National League final.

“Antrim football has improved over the last few years. We would love to win something for the county because everyone is on a bit of a high with St Gall’s winning an All-Ireland and other teams doing well. Last year, it was fantastic reaching the Ulster final, but we didn’t really perform against Tyrone. That was the disappointing thing about the year and against Kerry we played well, but didn’t quite do it.

“People say to you: ‘You played well’ but it doesn’t really mean a lot if you don’t win. But, this year, we’ll do as best we can.”