Tailteann Cup semi-final

Laois 3-12 Antrim 1-13

NEVER MIND a game of two halves, but it was a game of four quarters at Croke Park on Sunday as Antrim fell at the penultimate hurdle of the Tailteann Cup for the second year running.

This time it was Laois who broke their hearts and again, the Saffrons will reflect on a game that got away from them as they began each half well, only for the O'Moore side to solve the puzzle and hit them with haymaker goals.

The opening half saw Antrim start well and they looked in a decent place, but they began to lose their way to an extent as the Leinster side gained parity and hit the front through a Brian Byrne major which was the difference at the break.

Antrim were looking in a precarious place, but roared into the second half with 1-3 without reply early only to be derailed once more through a Kevin Swayne major and that was an advantage they weren't about to let slip.

"To go from three down, to three up, had momentum and looked reasonably comfortable, but you have to say Laois dug in and got a couple of scores," said a disappointed Antrim manager, Andy McEntee. 

"They got it down to two and the second goal was obviously a big turning point. The second half followed a very similar pattern to the first half.

"We started well, went two or three up, but each time we went up, Laois seemed to come back at us, maybe a bit too easily. Then the (first) goal comes that was maybe a bit unfortunate from our perspective as someone gets a block in and it falls to them. That's the way and we didn't seem to recover. From three up to three down with a slight breeze, we seemed to be in a decent position but that's not the way to turned out.

"The further you go in a competition and you make mistakes, you get punished."

Both sides made late alterations to their named squad pre-match, James McDonnell and Dominic McEnhill coming into replace Ryan McQuillan and Niall Burns for Antrim, whilst Ben Dempsey and Eoin Lowry came in for Laois in place of Kieran Lillis and Rioghan Murphy. 

Antrim began quite brightly with Colm McLarnon sauntering up the right wing to open the scoring and McEnhill converting a free into Hill 16 after McCann had been trailed back.

But Laois were very much aware of 'big' Ruairi as they shut down the avenues and it was a Paul Kingston score to get them on the board before Paddy McBride retaliated. 

It would therefore become rather even with Mark Barry hitting back as Laois gained parity and worked out the restart, but it required a last-ditch intervention from Mark Timmons to deny McCann a glorious goal opportunity as he sliced out for a 45 Mick Byrne slung over.

Barry replied with a close-range free after Simon Fingleton was felled and despite Paddy McBride twice restoring the two-point lead and Dominic McEnhill from an advanced mark in-between, Laois always had an instant response. 

Evan O’Carroll turned back onto his stronger foot and guided a shot over in response to the first of McBride’s double, Niall Dunne swung over a mark of his own after McEnhill had did likewise seconds earlier and Mark Barry conjured up his third of the half to make it 0-7 to 0-6 by the 25th minute. 

Things would flip soon after as with 28 gone as out of nowhere, the first green flag was raised and it was somewhat unfortunate for Antrim as a ball dropped and broke into the path of Byrne to finish to the net.

Paddy McBride kicked five points
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Paddy McBride kicked five points

It wiped out any Antrim momentum as they seemed to lose their way into the break when they trailed 1-7 to 0-7, the final score coming through James Kelly but ought to have been further ahead only for some poor shooting.

The half-time break couldn't come soon enough for Antrim and they appeared to have made the most of it early in the second period,  seemingly taking over again with 1-3 without reply.

Paddy McBride shifted and dropped over his fourth of the afternoon in what was a stunning performance before McLarnon and McEnhill slotted scores to level it.

Then came what appeared a huge sequence as a Laois attack ended with Eoin Lowry thumping a shot off the crossbar and Antrim broke as Kavan Keenan went route one. This time the ball broke their was and Paddy McAleer was the one to profit, gathering and 

Another couple of scores could have broken Laois resistance, but they didn't come as a pair of shots dropped short and the Midlanders dusted themselves off. 

A Mark Barry point  got them back on track and then with 52 gone, the decisive moment arrived as a moved resulted in Kevin Swayne palming home their second goal to flip the balance once more.

This time, there was no looking back as Antrim lost their way once more as goalkeeper Killian Roche and Evan O’Carroll restored their goal lead.

It wasn't looking good for Antrim, but after McBride nailed his fifth of the game, things began to look up as Laois captain was sin-binned for a deliberate kick to stop Marc Jordan with 64 on the board.

Antrim failed to capitalise, however, as the numerical advantage didn't translate into a return of ideas as, like last year's semi-final against Meath, they failed to execute down the stretch.

Instead, with numbers advanced, they were hit with the killer goal as after Niall Dunne restored his side's three-point advantage, Brian Byrne was slipped through on goal and he kept his composure before slotting home to kill the game.

Injury-time points from Creggan's Ruairi McCann and Conor Hand narrowed the gap. but it was too little, too late.

"You could say Laois closed off a lot of dangerous avenues as well," McEntee added. 

"They got people out in from of big Ruairi (McCann, Aghagallon) and cut off the avenue. Having said that, there were numerous chances we didn't;t take and there were chances in the first half we didn't take on when there was a shot (available).

"We went 1-3 to no score (early in the second half) and just didn't push on from that. Pwolw would say Antrim were in the ascendency, but you have to credit Laois as they used the ball well. There were way too many turnovers, especially in the first half.

They were strong in the tackle." 

Eoin Lowry is challenged by Colm McLarnon
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Eoin Lowry is challenged by Colm McLarnon

Last week in Enniskillen, Antrim found the reserves to flip things in their favour and celebrated accordingly at the finish, but even though they turned things around early in the second period here, there wasn't the same assuredness.

They celebrated wildly last week, but weren't feeling it this time as the semi-final roadblock reappeared.

Still, it's been another positive campaign when all is considered. An horrific injury list early in the season derailed realistic hopes of League progress, but they remained in the third tier and returned to Croke Park.

In a way, they are in the same place as they were 12 months ago, but can look ahead with a bit of belief things are incrementally heading the right way.

"It's a fair contrast from this week to last weekend," McEntee continued.

'We had a lot of injuries to key guys throughout the year, but beyond that, it gives an opportunity to develop other fellas. When you look at the squad, there are 10 or 12 fellas who weren't here this time last year. If you got through it, we've exposed a lot of fellas to this level.

"It's a very disappointed bunch today, but there is no doubt a lot of progress has been made."

LAOIS: K Roche (0-1); J Kelly (0-2), M Timmons, B Dempsey; S Lacey, B Byrne (2-0), S Fingleton; D Larkin, C Heffernan; M Barry (0-4, 1f), E O'Carroll (0-2), K Swayne (1-0); E Lowry, N Dunne (0-2, 1m), P Kingston (0-1).

Subs: E Buggie for S Lacey (46), R Murphy for E Lowry (46), K Lillis for K Swayne (68), S Fitzpatrick for B Byrne (70+1), C Burke for D Larkin (70+2).

ANTRIM: M Byrne (0-1, 1 45); E Walsh, K Keenan, J McDonnell; J Finnegan, D Lynch, D McAleese; P McAleer (1-0), C Hynds; R McCann (Creggan, 0-1), P McBride (0-5), C McLarnon (0-2); D McEnhill (0-3, 1f, 1m), R McCann (Aghagallon), M Jordan.

Subs: P Healy for J McDonnell (HT), E Hynds for P McAleer (57), C Hand (0-1) for C McLarnon (57), R McQuillan for R McCann (Aghagallon, 60), N Burns for D Lynch (60).

REFEREE: Liam Devenney (Mayo).