Allianz Football League Division Three
Antrim 0-12 Westmeath 1-13
IN the end, the result was meaningless for Antrim in terms of the promotion race in Division Three of the Allianz Football League, but the Saffrons will be nonetheless disappointed at how they let a five-point lead turn into a four-point loss against Westmeath at a sunny Corrigan Park.
Limerick's victory over Fermanagh meant the outcome of the game in Belfast would mean little with the Shannonsiders joining Louth in Division Two for next year, but the players wouldn't have known that as a John Heslin goal from a 49th-minute penalty proved the catalyst for Westmeath's strong finish as Antrim fell apart.
The Saffrons didn't make the most of their chances and kicked 12 wides, but just never recovered from that goal as Westmeath scored 1-5 without reply in a 10-minute spell that turned this game on its head when Antrim appeared to be cruising.
The hosts opened much brighter and were three up with some fine scores by Conor Murray and Pat Shivers as Westmeath, who lost midfielder Sam Duncan to injury early on, seemed off the pace.
James McAuley gets a pass away as Jonathan Lynam closes in
However, the hosts would lose Tomás McCann to the sin-bin on 12 minutes and by the time he returned, Westmeath had drawn level with Nigel Harte getting them on the board, while they also had a couple of goal chances with Sam McCartan denied by Mick Byrne and then Peter Healy made a vital block on Lorcan Dolan.
When McCann returned, Antrim regained the initiative with four points in-a-row, with two of those from Marc Jordan and Dermott McAleese that could have really been goals but they were unable to keep their shots down.
The hosts led 0-8 to 0-4 at the half and extended that gap with Pat Shivers kicking his third of the day just seconds into the second period, with Heslin and Ryan Murray trading points as Antrim looked to be in control despite the wides tally now into double figures.
This game would suddenly flip on its head whenJohn Heslin tucked away a 49th-minute penalty that was awarded after Martin Johnston's foot block on Jonathan Lynam.
This saw Westmeath burst to life as the Antrim kick-out malfunctioned and passes began to go astray with the visitors suddenly a goal clear as the scores began to flow, with Heslin kicking two and Jamie Gonoud forced to settle for a point when Byrne made a magnificent save to tip his shot over the crossbar.
Odhran Eastwood in posession 
Ryan Murray added a couple of points to keep Antrim in the hunt, but these were cancelled out by Heslin and Luke Loughlin as Westmeath saw the game out with Murray finishing the game in the sin bin after picking up a black card in stoppage time, while Westmeath's Robbie Forde had the final say to put a gloss on the victory.
It was certainly a disappointing end to the League from an Antrim perspective as the campaign had plenty of plusses, but they must now regroup and get ready for the Ulster Championship that is coming into view.
ANTRIM: M Byrne; J McAuley, R Johnston, P Healy; D Lynch, M Johnston, D McAleese (0-1); M McCann, K Small; T McCann, M Jordan (0-1), R McCann (0-2 frees); R Murray (0-3, 1 free), P Shivers (0-3), C Murray (0-2, 1 mark).
Subs: P McAleer for Tomás McCann (HT), J Gribin for D Lynch (58), J Laverty for M Johnston (62), O Eastwood for P Shivers (62), E McCabe for M Jordan (64)
WESTMEATH: J Daly; J Smith, K Maguire, J Gonoud (0-1); D Giles, N Harte (0-1), D Lynch; J Lynam, S Duncan; R Connellan (0-1), R O'Toole (0-1), S McCartan; L Dolan, J Heslin (1-5, 1-0 pen, 0-3 frees), A Gardiner (0-1)
Subs: K Martin for S Duncan (5), L Loughlin (0-2) for L Dolan (HT), K O'Sullivan for K Martin (64), B Kelly for A Gardiner (70+1), R Forde (0-1) for J Lynam (70+4)
REFEREE: James Molloy (Galway)
