Sport

Antrim hold off Carlow comeback

Antrim 1-13 Carlow 2-9: IT WAS a close call but a deserved win for Antrim at Casement Park on Saturday as the Saffrons edged…

Mon Jul 11 2011 - 01:00

Antrim 1-13 Carlow 2-9:IT WAS a close call but a deserved win for Antrim at Casement Park on Saturday as the Saffrons edged Carlow.

The visitors were left disappointed that they didn’t manage a draw after a late comeback.

The game swung on the 54th minute. In the space of 60 seconds, Antrim snatched their goal when substitute Mark Dougan fisted home a long ball and Carlow’s Ed Finnegan received a second booking.

The Barrow boys attacked fiercely during the first half but their final pass often let them down and they didn’t score from the 10th minute until the 34th.

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At that stage, Antrim led by 0-6 to 0-2 but Daniel St Ledger came to the rescue with three brilliant points in three minutes to leave the interval score at 0-6 to 0-5 in Antrim’s favour.

One minute after the restart, Carlow were ahead by two points as St Ledger knocked home a loose ball after two other efforts had been blocked.

The introduction of Paddy Cunningham pepped up the Antrim attack and the home side led 1-13 to 1-8 by the 66th minute before Brendan Murphy sent a rocket to the Antrim net.

St Ledger closed the gap to a point but the Saffrons held on for the narrow win.

“I’m just glad to get through and it’s a long time since Antrim has gone so far in the championship,” said winning manager Liam Bradley afterwards.

ANTRIM: W McSorley; C Brady, R Johnson, K O’Boyle; T Scullion, J Crozier, A Healy; S Burke, A Gallagher; C Murray (0-2), T McCann (0-2, 1f), J Loughrey (0-1); G O’Boyle (0-2, 1 sideline), B Herron, K Niblock (0-2). Subs: A Douglas for K O’Boyle (19 mins); P Cunningham (0-3, 1f) for McCann (40 mins), M Dougan (1-1) for Healy (47 mins), K Brady for Herron (62 mins).

CARLOW: T O’Reilly; A Murphy, C Lawlor, B Kavanagh; P Cashin, S Redmond, K Nolan; Brendan Murphy (1-2, 2f), D Foley (0-2, 1f); P Hickey, W Minchin, E Finnegan; E Ruth, Brian Murphy, D St Ledger (1-4, 1 sideline, 3f). Subs: BJ Molloy for Murphy (43 mins), T Walsh (0-1) for Minchin (45 mins), C Mullins for Ruth (54 mins), J Murphy for Foley (57 mins), T Bolger for Nolan (60 mins).

Referee: E Kinsella (Laois).