White gets touch of the green

"I suppose you could say that today we had the luck that we've never had in the past." Brian White is a modest man, and his assessment of this victory never strayed beyond his personality.

After the final whistle, White remained in the middle of the field, almost in isolation. He only lives up the road from Casement Park but here he wanted to soak up the sort of atmosphere that had been so absent from Antrim football for 18 years.

"I always believed we could do it," he added, "but those last couple of minutes were seriously heart-wrecking. If I was out there myself I don't know if I could have managed it."

It was just last November that White took the ropes in Antrim, and in a matter of weeks had led them to All-Ireland B success. So that, and ending the championship drought of 18 years, and the 31-year stretch since they've beaten Down in the competition, can't be without its reasons.

"Well, it's one thing to be confident but you have to have the belief as well. These guys all believed in each other. There's no point in believing in the cause if you don't believe in yourselves. And the goalkeeper was so crucial. I know he's there to stop balls but he made three or four brilliant saves that kept us in there.

"But yes, a lot of effort went into this. Training three nights a week for the last few months has its up and downs, but we were as ready for this game as we could have been."

For Pete McGrath, the emotions couldn't have been more contrasting. Even with 11 years of Down leadership behind him, defeats like this don't get any easier to take. "I'd say Down football is in a transition period," he said. "You saw that today when the likes of (Mickey) Linden are still key men.

"But I feel we were playing for goals a little too early. The first 10 minutes of the second half proved decisive for Antrim and they made full use of it."

It was, however, too early for McGrath to speculate about his future, except to say that he will be sitting down with his selectors during the week to discuss the future direction of football in the county.

So as the Down men made their hasty exit, forward Shane Mulholland paused to offer a few words. He has certainly seen better days in the red and black, and yesterday he wasn't hiding his disappointment.

"It is a black day for Down football," he said. "I thought losing the Ulster final last year was bad but this is even worse. But we probably chased goals a little too soon and their keeper was in great form. We couldn't get on top of them and they never let up either." So, at the end of May, it's the end of Down's championship football.