Antrim 1-19 Down 0-15:A BRILLIANT display of free-taking by Antrim's Paul Shiels – who scored 0-11 in total – was the main reason Antrim beat Down in Portaferry yesterday.

Down lost wing back Stephen Johnson to a red card after 30 minutes. The sides were level at 0-6 each entering the second quarter but five Paul Shields frees steered Antrim ahead and with the last puck of the half Brendan Herron’s long effort beat goalkeeper Graham Clarke to give Antrim a 1-11 to 0-7 half-time lead. It was point for point in the second period as Antrim prevailed.

ANTRIM: R McGarry; K McGourty, N McGarry, C Duffin; C Herron, N McAuley, J Campbell; B Herron (1-2), P Shiels (0-11); D McKillop, K Stewart (0-2), M Herron; PJ OConnell (0-1), K Kelly, P Doherty (0-1). Subs: C Donnelly for N McGarry (48 mins, yellow), K Sheerin for J Campbell (68 mins, yellow), E McCloskey (0-1) for D McKillop, J Scullion (0-1) for K Kelly, S McCrory for P Doherty.

DOWN: G Clarke; F Conway, A Dynes, P Hughes; S Johnson, R McGrattan, S Wilson (0-2); A Savage (0-1), P Braniff (0-10); C Woods, B McGourty (0-2), E Trainor; E Clarke, S Clarke, JH Hughes. Subs: K Courtney for JH Hughes, M Ennis for E Clarke, J Coyle for S Clarke, D Flynn for E Trainor, A Higgins for P Hughes.

Referee: T Carroll (Offaly).