Harnan not surprised by impact McEntee has made with Antrim
Padraic Harnan of Meath in attendance during the Tailteann Cup Semi-Finals media event at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
Meath veteran Padraic Harnan hasn’t been the least bit surprised by Antrim’s impressive form this year under Andy McEntee.
Meath manager from 2017 to 2022, McEntee surprised everyone by making a quick return to inter-county management with the Saffrons.
It seemed almost fated when Antrim were draw to play Meath in this Sunday’s Tailteann Cup semi-final, and Harnan is expecting Antrim to be a well-organised, highly motivated opponents under McEntee.
“I've known Andy since I was about 10,” says Harnan. “He was actually my soccer coach in Dunboyne. He was very competitive even then! And you can see through Antrim's performances and how well they've done this year versus last year what he's brought.
“A lot of professionalism and competitiveness. He's probably nearly training in there with them! He gets that much involved and gets everyone motivated. I'm sure they're delighted to have him.”
Antrim manager, Andy McEntee.
Antrim have won all four games they’ve played in the Tailteann Cup this year but so too have Meath.
They’ve improved with every match they’ve played and now have a better balance between defence and attack than they did during their Allianz Football League campaign.
“The league was disappointing,” admits Harnan. “We started well with two wins and then just lost a bit of form and couldn't get going. The Tailteann Cup has helped give us games which as a team we needed.
“We've a good few young lads after coming through and it's good to give them the experience of good, competitive games.
“We're still trying to find how we want to play or how we can play and there's still always things to be worked on. There is always a few errors that we have to learn from, week on week.
“That's football, there's always going to be little mistakes. Whoever makes the least amount of mistakes goes on to win it.
“We're just trying to improve week on week. We're not going to be perfect, but we're going to keep on going upwards hopefully.
“We've won four games now in the Tailteann Cup and we're just trying to make it a fifth at the weekend and grow as a team. But we know it’s going to be a very tough game against Antrim and Andy.”
