Tailteann Cup Round 1 North

LEITRIM        2-14                           ANTRIM 1-12

Kevin Egan at Avant Money Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada

Leitrim were far more comfortably than the final margin of five points might suggest in this afternoon’s Tailteann Cup contest at Avant Money Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada, where they easily advanced to the second round of the competition thanks to a vastly superior performance in front of the posts.

Possession was quite evenly shared between these two sides as a fast-paced encounter unfolded in the warm sunshine that bathed the Carrick-on-Shannon venue, but while Andy Moran’s side will certainly have plenty of missed chances to look back at during this week’s video analysis sessions, they failings in that regard were a world apart from those of Antrim, who shot 12 wides, dropped another five shots short, and also passed up a couple of good goal chances over the course of the 70 minutes.

Even as they opened the scoring with a little over ten seconds gone, Antrim will feel that they might have had more. A long ball in from Conor Stewart was met with a clever backwards fist from Odhrán Eastwood, and as the ball hung in the air, the question was if it would fall over or under Brendan Flynn’s crossbar.

It dropped over, and Leitrim took advantage of their reprieve by kicking the next three points, including two excellent scores from Keith Beirne.

A gorgeous high strike from Jamie Gribbon reduced the deficit, but already Antrim’s wide count was mounting.

Leitrim had their misses too, and Keith Beirne will rue a left-footed shot from the 13m line that he pulled wide of the posts, but the green flag wasn’t going to stay rooted for too long. Shane Moran was the man who put his name on the home side’s goal in the 19th minute, using his physical power to get in between the goalkeeper and full back and punch Domhnaill Flynn’s hanging shot to the net.

The second quarter summed up Antrim’s difficulties as they missed a host of great chances, including a goal effort from Paddy McAleer that crashed off the post and wide, while Leitrim quietly set about building up a lead. Points from Beirne, Cillian McGloin and Donal Wrynn made it 1-9 to 0-4 at half time, and while Antrim got the first score of the second half through Peter Healy, their challenge was effectively ended when Jack Heslin punched in a second home goal, with Pearce Dolan following up immediately with a point.

A black card for Conor Stewart added to Antrim’s woes, but as the game grew increasingly niggly and scrappy, scores at both ends dried up and the contest meandered to a conclusion.

A superb solo goal from Peter Healy and a run of points off the left boot of full forward Pat Shivers reduced the deficit to four at one stage, but by then Andy Moran had given his full bench a run, and they too started to suffer from the scoring yips, though late scores from Mark Plunkett and Keith Beirne settled their nerves and secured their progress.  

Scorers for Leitrim: Keith Beirne 0-5 (0-1f, 0-1m), Jack Heslin 1-1, Shane Moran 1-0, Evan Sweeney 0-1, David Bruen 0-1, Cillian McGloin 0-1, Pearce Dolan 0-1, Donal Wrynn 0-1m, Jordan Reynolds 0-1, Mark Plunkett 0-1.

Scorers for Antrim: Pat Shivers 0-4, Peter Healy 1-1, Dermot McAleese 0-2, Rúairí McCann 0-2f, Odhrán Eastwood 0-1, Patrick McBride 0-1, Jamie Gribbon 0-1.

Leitrim: Brendan Flynn; Paddy Maguire, Mark Diffley, Conor Reynolds; Domhnaill Flynn, James Rooney, David Bruen; Pearce Dolan, Shane Moran; Cillian McGloin, Keith Beirne, Jack Heslin; Evan Sweeney, Donal Wrynn, Riordan O’Rourke.

Subs: Jordan Reynolds for McGloin (37), Emlyn Mulligan for O’Rourke (47), Mark Plunkett for Heslin (53), Conor Farrell for Flynn (59), Darragh Rooney for Sweeney (67)

Antrim: Michael Byrne; Eoghan McCabe, Peter Healy, Patrick McCormick; Marc Jordan, Declan Lynch, Dermot McAleese; Kevin Small, Conor Stewart; Patrick McBride, Ryan Murray, Paddy McAleer; Jamie Gribbon, Pat Shivers, Odhrán Eastwood.

Subs: Ruairí McCann for Jordan (half-time), James Laverty for Small (half-time), Barry McCormick for P McCormick (47), Conor Murray for Gribbon (47), Eoin Hynds for Eastwood (58)

Referee: Barry Cassidy (Derry)