Allianz Football League Division Three
Louth v Antrim (Ardee, Sunday, 2pm)
 
ANTRIM manager Enda McGinley insists his squad will be travelling to Ardee on Sunday with belief that they be able to get the better of promotion rivals Louth.

The Saffrons make the trip to Ardee in pole position with Louth sitting in second place on scoring difference.

A late Ryan Murray score in injury-time saw McGinley’s side claim a 1-15 to 3-8 win in the league encounter back in May as both sides made the jump out of tier four and the Tyrone native is expecting a huge test when he comes up against Micky Harte’s men.

“Hoping for the same again would almost be too much to ask for - we have to go down there with belief,” insists McGinley.

“Louth, after that result against us last year, they were probably the dominant team in Division Four and they’ve been very strong this year.

“They beat Limerick, who obviously put us to the sword up here. We know well that Louth are a very good quality team. I always thought Louth would be in the promotion hunt as well and so they are.

“It is a huge game on Sunday, the fact that it is Mickey Harte (managing Louth doesn’t matter). It’s the players on the pitch, it’s over to them to go and do battle once again. We got wee crumbs of luck last year, hopefully our luck hasn’t run out. If you’re offering me a defeat or a draw, I’ll take a draw but we’re going down there to get a win.”

Saturday’s win against Longford ensures the Saffrons go into the weekend’s clash with genuine promotion hopes, but also ensured survival, something McGinley is adamant wasn’t a target of his this season.

“It wasn’t to be honest, it really genuinely never came into my head or our head in terms of relegation,” McGinley revealed.

“For me that would be like setting off on a car journey and congratulating yourself that you didn’t crash.

“It’s a basic requirement and I knew the boys were more than fit to compete at this level, I knew the boys were more than fit to push for promotion.

“We’re now in that place where we’ve two huge games coming up against other promotion contenders in Louth and Westmeath so it’s brilliant to have meaningful games for the right reason at the end of the league.”

On Saturday’s victory, McGinley believes it was a surprise result and felt things fell nicely for his side throughout the course of the game.

“I suppose the division has had a lot of surprise results and that was a surprise for us from a nice point of view,” reflected McGinley.

“It was easier than I thought. For Longford it was a tough journey up, they were missing Mickey Quinn today and he’s a very important player for them.

“We got off to a really good start, so I think the various things fell in our favour. They’d a couple of goal chances that didn’t come off, so it was one of those days that went well for us.

“It was one of those where ones were at half-time you have to dig deep to try and be cross with them.

“It was a good first half performance, but no more than what we felt has been there in training. The boys have been good, we’ve been frustrated at times that we haven’t produced performances maybe that we could have.

“The conditions being more settled today also helps teams to start to play a wee bit more football.

“When you play against a gale-force wind, it is tough, conditions today was calmer and drier underfoot too, which helps the boys.

“It’s put us in a position where we’ve a real fighting chance at going for promotion and that’s the key now.”