Antrim prove too strong for Derry senior camogs
Oak Leafers push Division 1A Antrim to the limit ahead of May's rematch
Derry will take a lot of heart from their first 45 minutes in this Armagh City Hotel Ulster senior semi-final in Portglenone on Saturday.
Their Division 2 league form suggested that they would struggle against an Antrim team that had beaten All-Ireland senior finalists Cork and generally competed well in all their games in Division 1A, two leagues higher.
Jackie Donnelly’s fifth minute goal gave Derry something to build on and they used it well to resist Antrim’s efforts to take control of the game. Antrim went 15 minutes, between the 13th and 28th minutes, without breaching the Derry defence who were excellent as a unit.
With a couple of minutes to go until the break, the teams were level. Even after the goal from Cliona Griffin, Derry refused to throw in the towel and approached the second half with renewed enthusiasm. Antrim didn’t really pull clear until Éobha McAllister made it 1-8 to 1-3 after 48 minutes.
Derry were never in with a chance of catching the three-in-a-row chasing Saffrons however; Antrim’s defence was almost water-tight and Derry were increasingly reliant on frees to keep the score-board moving.
Nevertheless the Oak Leaf have something to build on during the next four weeks until their next game, a home clash with the same opposition in the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Intermediate championship on May 23. Éobha McAllister, the Dunloy teenager who was this writer’s choice for Player of the Match with 1-5 by the end of play, opened the scoring in the second minute.
Then came Jackie Donnelly’s goal, the ‘Screen forward neatly slipping the sliotar past Beckie Ellis. Although Maeve Kelly, Katie McKillop and Nicole McAtamney from a 45 responded to edge Antrim ahead by the 13th minute, Derry held them scoreless for the next 15 minutes with a Carla Collins’ free levelling the argument.
Collins pointed again before the break, but Cliona Griffin’s goal on 30 minutes made it 1-5 to 1-2, the dual-player drifting in at the back post to beat Niamh Gribbin. Clíodhna Ní Mhianáin’s point in the 36th minute was the meat in a Róisín McCormick sandwich that saw just three points scored during the third quarter.
Éobha McAllister, who captained Cross & Passion Ballycastle to schools’ success against St Patrick’s Maghera earlier this year, then broke Derry with three points in quick succession. She also had a late penalty expertly diverted over the bar by Niamh Gribbin as Antrim finished strongly. Nicole McAtamney and Róisín McCormick were also on target in the last few minutes before McAllister eventually got the goal she craved in the second minute of added time.