Its a long way to Breffini Park

Two seasons ago Tipperary footballers pipped Antrim to promotion out of Division 4 of the National Football League. Last year they followed that up with promotion to the second tier of Gaelic Football's secondary competition. At the moment Antrim footballers sit atop Divison 3 with 2 wins out of 2, and while everybody wants to be the man at the top, we have to be cautious about 'doing a Tipperary' just yet.

On Saturday night I set out on the road to Breffini Park. My travelling companion was 9 years old, and his brother aged 8. Its a long way. Very long. And it was cold. Very cold. Freezing cold by the time the match ended. And it was worth every second.

Antrim had lots of early possession but some very poor shooting in the first half saw us fall behind early, 2 points to 1. Too many shots fell into the keepers hands. After about a quarter of the game it was 3 points apiece with our scores all coming from the fist or boot of Paddy Cunningham. The first half meandered along until a two goal exchange which left Antrim two points adrift, our goal courtesy of a Thomas McCann snapshot. That deficit was made up by half time with a fine Michael McCann point from long distance effort making the sides level by half time.

The second half began with a 10 minute period of Cavan dominance which proved to be their last and which yielded only 1 point. After that Brendan Herron and Michael McCann took over the midfield and won the lion's share of possession in that sector. Antrim dominated the final third of the game and some of our points in that period were sublime. When Thomas McCann and James Loughrey started their pacy runs the Cavan defence simply had no answer. Loughrey was putting in an effort in the final minutes which would been suited to a knife edge, in the balance contest.

This was no knife edge affair and when Michael Magill scored Antrim's second goal the game was effectively won. The Saffrons saw out the game in comfort, retaining possession and taking scores seemingly at ease. Best for Antrim were the midfield, Loughrey, T McCann, Cunningham, Crozier, Scullion and O'Hagan. But in truth this was massive team / squad triumph.

So, its 2 wins out of 2, a 100% league record so far. Next up for Antrim footballers is Fermanagh, on the 6th March in Casement. Come and support them - they deserve it.

Did I mention how cold it was?