21 January 2010
Credit where credit is due – Down were an impressive side, certainly against a slower starting Antrim in Newry. Round two of the Barrett’s Sports Lighting Dr Mc Kenna Cup had to be played with the Antrim squad further depleted through injury and illness, on the night, on top of the enforced absence of a number of key players. This meant that Antrim were of necessity top heavy with inexperience and therefore notably under strength for this encounter; to an extent the Antrim boss was testing the skills and determination of a number of inexperienced panel players; this essential exercise has to be done.
By contrast Down were fired up, in front of a home crowd and keen to impress – they certainly did that and scored a total of 19 points on the night; evidence to the effect that they too can play good football. Yet again the depleted Antrim team, inexperience notwithstanding, bit the bullet and rallied in the second half, [that half time prayer meeting works!] giving the Down team a display of their new found tenacity. The second half effort was almost good enough to allow Antrim to claw back into contention and a great goal from Neil O’ Connell took the bad look off the scoreboard but in the final analysis it was too late.
A suitably fired up and hungry Down team, essentially came out on to the field running and took advantage of a somewhat experimental Antrim team, clearly struggling to find their shape in the first half. Down notably kept their shape and played to a pattern, which, for a time, made Antrim look very much out classed and in disarray. We were well beaten on the night, but this was yet another learning curve and that all important tenacity and absolute refusal to quit, until the final whistle , was well in evidence at least.
It is always easy to play a game from the terraces and some of the unforced errors are painful to the eye but that is more often what has to happen, before an ambitious but otherwise inexperienced player can re-adjust to counteract or minimise such errors. It can be taken as read that ‘Baker’ will have picked up on some of the unforced errors and that these will be duly ironed out. This was just another learning curve and all things considered, all credit to Down on the night; they exploited an opportunity.
Lawrence Smyth County PRO
