Bradley lauds players as Antrim end 39-year wait

ULSTER SFC SEMI-FINAL Antrim 0-13 Cavan 1-7: HOPE CAN be a dangerous thing.

Tyrone are a footballing Goliath seeking to add an Ulster title ahead of the more serious defence of their All-Ireland crown. On July 19th, this Monaghan outpost will be ignited not only by the usual Red Hand brigade but an invasion of Antrim people long starved of sporting success.

By beating Donegal up in Ballybofey and now Cavan, guided by Derryman Liam Bradley, Antrim have finally earned some purple hearts in the killing fields of Ulster football.

Yet, many people remain unconvinced and say they will be embarrassed but David was never given a chance with a puny slingshot.

On a balmy Saturday night they hardly came to Clones in huge numbers, 16,377 in total, but some long-suffering Saffron loyalists were present. They danced into the dusk, all the way back to Belfast, after staying true to a simple but effective game plan.

“What game plan is that?” asked Baker Bradley, clearly intent on keeping his own council. “I didn’t know we had a game plan! Of course, the lads, anything we’ve asked of them this year they’ve done it and today we had some outstanding performers. I don’t want to name any players, but some unbelievable performances from the 17 players that we used. It was a long time coming for Antrim, 39 years, well just enjoy tonight.”

Alas, this may be the last summer we see 20-year-old Niall McKeever dominate a midfield as he takes up a rookie contract with the Brisbane Lions in November.

A little scrawny by Australian standards, the man towers over most in these parts at 6ft 6in. Most importantly, he can play ball and combined with Aodhán Gallagher to starve Cavan of possession, with one-time AFL recruit Nicholas Walsh a passenger for three quarters of this contest.

There were others worth a mention. Mickey McCann wreaked havoc at full forward. Terry O’Neill is the libero in the increasingly essential seventh defender role, providing scope for wing backs Tony Scullion and James Loughrey to launch repeated raids down the flanks, much like their opposite numbers in Tyrone.

Seán Burke made some timely contributions to the scoreboard while full back Andy McClean did a quiet, yet ruthlessly efficient job.

That’s a lot of men to mention, but really everyone carried their weight, besides the last-quarter collapse when the Division Four side sat back and admired their six-point lead.

Carr threw David Givney, Martin Reilly and big Larry Reilly into the fray. Seanie Johnston is Cavan’s go-to forward, but, despite an impressive beginning, clipping two points, he was cut off at source or contained by O’Neill’s vision.

On 57 minutes Givney gathered a break off a Johnston 45 to score a goal that made it 1-6 to 0-12. Cavan began winning the loose ball and a minute later Larry Reilly registered a point to give us a look at Antrim in adversity.

A massive Paddy Cunningham free provided some solace for Antrim with four minutes remaining as it forced Cavan to chase a goal.

There were chances in a hectic finale, but Cavan’s inability to pour men into the square meant the Antrim rearguard were not properly tested in the white heat that Tyrone’s marquee forward Seán Cavanagh spoke about last week. That is coming next, but anything is possible now.

“We’re playing a crowd of boys from Tyrone who are not bad players either. We’ll just enjoy it. Really I’d say it will be a fabulous day,” said Bradley. “Antrim had massive support there this evening and I’d say it’ll probably be double that for the final. I wouldn’t want to be looking for a ticket for the Gerry Arthur Stand anyway.

Mickey Harte was jotting notes in the stand on Saturday night. He witnessed a young, hungry but essentially naive opposition that dropped off the required intensity at the end of both halves.

Harte’s team will fill the space that Cavan allowed.

McCann and McKeever will be enveloped and antagonised, Loughrey and Scullion tracked zealously by half forwards.

“I’m just delighted to be part of this,” added Bradley. “Antrim football has been in the doldrums. Whenever I took over this job people said in my own county that I was crazy to even consider my name going forward for it. But I always knew that the talent was there. Antrim is like every other county, there’s the guts of 40 clubs or more and there’s good players there. It just shows for the weaker counties in Ireland, if they look at Antrim, what can be done with hard work. These guys have worked immensely for six months.

“They were no-hopers at the start of the year and here we are down in an Ulster final.”

Hope is alive in Antrim.

That is surely a good thing.

ANTRIM: 1 P Graham; 2 C Brady, 3 A McClean, 4 K O'Boyle; 5 T Scullion, 6 J Crozier (0-1), 7 J Loughery (0-1); 12 N McKeever, 9 A Gallagher (0-1); 10 T O'Neill (0-1), 11 K Brady, 13 P Cunningham (0-4, three frees); 14 S Burke (0-2), 8 M McCann (0-2, one free), 15 T McCann (0-1). Subs: 25 K Niblock for N McKeever (59 mins), 18 C Close for K Brady (64 mins). Yellow card: A Gallagher (35 mins).

CAVAN: 1 J Reilly; 2 M Hannon, 3 D Sheridan, 4 M Brides; 5 J McCutcheon, 6 E Keating, 7 P Reilly; 8 N Walsh, 9 C Galligan; 10 S Brady, 11 R Flanagan (capt), 12 C Mackey; 13 M Reilly (0-1), 14 R Cullivan (0-1), 15 S Johnston (0-4, two frees). Subs: 17 P Brady for P Reilly (20 mins), 19 R Dunne for J McCutcheon (41 mins), 25 L Reilly (0-1)for S Brady (44 mins), 22 D Givney (1-0)for C Mackey (53 mins), 18 J OReilly for E Keating (61 mins). Yellow cards: M Reilly (45 mins), N Walsh (51 mins), D Sheridan (61 mins).

Referee: J Bannon(Longford).