Kieran McGeeney: 'It was a big battle, but just delighted to get through'
OPENING BATTLE: WHAT was supposed to be a straightforward assignment for Armagh turned into a real test at a packed Corrigan Park on Saturday as Antrim threw the kitchen sink at the All-Ireland champions, but Kieran McGeeney's men found the answers to win by 11. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
WHAT was supposed to be a straightforward assignment for Armagh turned into a real test at a packed Corrigan Park on Saturday as Antrim threw the kitchen sink at the All-Ireland champions, but Kieran McGeeney's men found the answers to win by 11.
It turned into a rip-roaring Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-final for those lucky enough to have got what was the hottest ticket in town and the 4000 in attendance were treated to an all-action affair between these teams.
The furore over the venue of this game added to the hype and Antrim fed off much of the buzz they had created to produce their best showing of the season and although it was not enough to cause a shock that didn't seem out of the question for long stages, they came away with a lot of credit.
Patrick McBride was in top form with nine points overall, including three first-half two-pointers, but overall, Armagh carried more of a threat with 13 different scorers overall including eight points from their top-scorer, Rory Grugan and Oisin O’Neill came on at the break to kick three two-point frees.
“It was a big battle, but just delighted to get through,” said Armagh boss, Kieran McGeeney.
“We've had a rough few weeks with injuries. I think we had only maybe three or four from last year's (All-Ireland final) team. There's a lot of debutants out there today and a lot of fellas who hadn't much time (on the pitch).
“Ulster Championship is always going to be a good game. Everyone’s got pace and good footballers - Antrim’s no different, so it's good to come out with a victory. It's just a matter of trying to get like a wee bit stronger the next day.” It was all going to form early with Armagh landing the first three points as Rory Grugan opened his account before Antrim grew into it as McBride kicked the first of those two-pointers.
The twos kept coming with Dominic McEnhill and Armagh goalkeeper Ethan Rafferty trading before the Orchard seemed to take a grip to go five clear and that could have been more but for a couple of good stop from Mick Byrne in the Antrim goal.
But this game was turning into a ding-dong affair and on 20 minutes, Antrim had a penalty as Ruairi McCann was impeded when about to finish to the net after Rafferty fumbled and the Armagh goalkeeper’s woes were compounded when shown a black card.
However, Blaine Hughes came off the bench to thwart Kavan Keenan and Armagh spirits were raised further as Grugan then. Landed a two-pointer from a free.
But there was something about Antrim who whittled down the gap to one with the help of a two from McEnhill.
Rafferty returned to play outfield for the rest of the half as Antrim then found themselves with 14 for 10 minutes as Keenen was sin-binned, but McBride twice slung over two-pointers to help them into a 0-14 to 0-13 advantage at the half.
McBride extended the gap straight after the break, but Oisin O'Neill's introduction at the half would pay dividends as he kicked the first of three two-point frees to level.
When Ross McQuillan edged Armagh back in front after 42 minutes, it was a lead they would hold to the finish as Aidan Forker - initially introduced as a temporary replacement - pointed and then from their defence forcing a turnover, Armagh broke with pace and Tomas McCormack blasted to the roof of the net.
O'Neill and Grugan added scores but Antrim again found a reply with McQuillan kicking a two and McBride fisting over.
The hosts continued to stay just about in touch but when Ronan Boyle thumped over to bring the gap back to seven, the batteries were running out for the hosts as Armagh poured on the scores late with seven on the spin.
A Ryan McQuillan goal for the hosts late on was a bit of deserved consolation for what they had brought to this game, but that is all it was as Armagh marched into the last four.
“I guess that's the nature of these new rules really, the scoreline can be a little bit misleading at times,” said Antrim manager Andy McEntee.
“They were better in the second half, they were getting scores way too easy. We maybe, whether we ran out of legs or ran out of bodies, I'm not sure, but just a couple of key things went against us at vital stages and we needed everything going for us to get a result on a day like that.
“They know they've put in a good shift. Nobody likes to lose, but it's probably a positive note to go into the Tailteann Cup.”
: P McBride (0-9, 3tp, 1f); R McQuillan (1-5, 1tp); D McEnhill (0-4, 1tp, 1tpf); M Byrne (0-2, 45); M Jordan, E Quinn, R Boyle (0-1 each)
: R Grugan (0-8, 1tpf, 4f); O O'Neill (0-6, 3tpf); C O'Neill (0-4); T McCormack (1-1); E Rafferty (0-3, 1tpf); R McQuillan (0-3); G McCabe and C McConville (0-2 apiece); A Murnin, D McMullan, A Forker, B McCambridge, J Hall (0-1 each).
: Michael Byrne; Eoghan McCabe, Eunan Walsh, Kavan Keenan; James McAuley, Dermot McAleese Marc Jordan; Conor Hand, Conor Stewart; Patrick McBride, Patrick Finnegan, Ronan Boyle; Ryan McQuillan, Ruairi McCann, Dominic McEnhill.
Eunan Quinn for C Stewart (HT), Niall Burns for M Jordan (46), Ryan Murray for D McEnhill (46), John Morgan for J McAuley (48), Fionn Nahgle for P Finnegan (54)
: Ethan Rafferty; Gareth Murphy, Barry McCambridge, Tomás McCormack; Ross McQuillan, Greg McCabe, Jarlath Og Burns; Callum O'Neill, Ciaran Mackin; Darragh McMullan, Rory Grugan, Peter McGrane; Tiernan Kelly, Andrew Murnin, Stefan Campbell.
Blaine Hughes for T Kelly (20), Oisin O'Neill for B Hughes (HT), Jemar Hall for S Campbell (49), Cian McConville for D McMullan (52), Aidan Forker for A Murnin (53) Blood subs: Jemar Hall for R McQuillan (2-4), Aidan Forker for O O'Neill (42-45)
Barry Cassidy (Derry)
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