Joe McDonagh Cup: Late goal seals Down win

Joe McDonagh Cup

Down 1-22 Antrim 0-23

By Maghnus Dunne at Dunloy

Lightning struck twice for Down as they managed an injury time goal to clinch an away victory over Ulster rivals Antrim at Pearse Park in Dunloy.

Antrim led the tie at the break despite only seeing 50 per cent of their first half strikes ending in a score after they rallied in response to Tom McGrattan’s opening score for Down inside a minute.

The hosts soon replied courtesy of Seáan Elliot, the Dunloy native turned the marksman on his home turf after he struck three frees with no reply from the away side.

Elliot found his and Antrim’s fourth point with their first from play on the quarter hour mark.

Unlike the league contest between the two, goals were certainly a scarce entity in the first half with neither side troubling the opposition shot-stopper. Eventually, the Mourne county got into the game with a first for Pearse Óg McCrickard and Daithi Sands soon followed suit.

The first half homecoming rang true when the Dunloy cohort on the panel all found their shooting range as Conal Cunning, Eoin O’Neill and Keelan Molloy all firing scores from play as the half played out.

Down did answer some of Antrim’s questions and narrowed the gap to two scores after McCrickard and McGrattan struck for raised flags, but the late tally from Ryan McCambridge and Paul Boyle kept the away side at arms length from their Ulster rivals.

The away side got up and running again as they looked to mount a comeback over Antrim with Tom McGrattan striking first before James McNaughton found his second score of the afternoon.

Scores from Coleman and Hughes kept Down reducing the deficit.

Antrim kept them at bay with Elliot’s free taking, but the Saffrons were caught in the closing stages.

Donal Hughes netted in injury time to see off their rivals in a huge opening victory for Down which could give them momentum to strive for glory in the Joe McDonagh Cup.

Late efforts from Gerard Walsh and Ruairi Donaghy proved ineffective in finding the winner for the Saffrons, and Antrim will have to lick their wounds and quick as they face Laois in a weeks time, but this week it’s another huge victory for their neighbours.

Scorers for Down: Pearse Óg McCrickard 0-8 (8fs), Donal Hughes 1-1, Tom McGrattan 0-4, Daithi Sands 0-2, Caolan Taggart 0-1, Liam Savage 0-1, Cahal Coleman 0-1, Marc Fisher 0-1, Owen McDermott 0-1, Ben Teggart 0-1, Finn Turpin 0-1.

Scorers for Antrim: Seáan Elliot 0-11 (10fs), James McNaughton 0-3, Ryan McCambridge 0-2, Keelan Molloy 0-2, Conal Cunning 0-2, Paul Boyle 0-1, Eoin O’Neill 0-1, Jack McCloskey 0-1.

Down: Pearse Smyth; Tom Murray, Ruairí McCrickard, Ben Teggart; Barry Trainor, Caolan Taggart, Niall McFarland; Donal Hughes, Liam Savage; Daithí Sands, Finn Turpin, Pearse Óg McCrickard; Tom McGrattan; Tim Prenter, Shea Pucci

Subs: Marc Fisher on for Liam Savage, Cahal Coleman on for Tim Prenter, Ronan Beatty on for Shea Pucci, Ronan Smyth on for Niall McFarland, Owen McDermott on for Finn Turpin.

Antrim: Cormac McFadden; Oisin Donnelly, Niall O'Connor, Stephen Rooney; Ryan McNulty, Paddy Burke, Joe Maskey; Eoin O'Neill, Paul Boyle; Keelan Molloy, Ryan McCambridge, Conal Cunning; James McNaughton, Ruairi Donaghy, Seáan Elliot.

Subs: Gerard Walsh on for Eoin O’Neill, Conal Bohill on for Paul Boyle, Jack McCloskey on for Conal Cunning.

Referee: Thomas Gleeson (Dublin).