‘MURDER on the Dancefloor’ blared out of the Antrim changing room as they celebrated this remarkable victory, coming back from the dead to kill off their hosts.
Seven up early in the second half against opponents who had only scored twice, Fermanagh had to swallow the bitter taste of defeat after the Saffrons went ahead for the first time through midfielder Cathal Hynds’s 68th minute goal, before his brother Eoin sealed the victory.
This game of two halves was turned by a bold triple substitution from Antrim manager Andy McEntee less than eight minutes into the second period.
Ronan McCaffrey had just put the Ernemen 0-9 to 0-2 up when the Meathman sent on Peter Healy, Conor Hand, and Dominic McEnhill.
After almost a year out due to injury, former captain Healy scored immediately, sparking Antrim’s remarkable revival, while those other two also got on the scoresheet, with Eoin Hynds also coming on to bring the tally of points from substitutes to six
“Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t,” said McEntee. “You’re looking down the barrel at that stage and you have to try something. Thankfully they worked out.”
They certainly did.
A game that appeared to be heading towards only one outcome, a comfortable home win, was turned around completely. Antrim notched five of the next six scores, despite a couple of bad misses from McEnhill.
The Saffrons were building up a head of steam while Fermanagh were running out of it. Even when Fermanagh sub Garvan Jones seemed to stop the rot, putting them 11-7 ahead on the hour, Antrim responded in style, reeling off 1-4 without reply.
While Antrim only have a week before their semi-final, this loss will last long in Fermanagh memories for all the wrong reasons.
To his credit, home boss Kieran Donnelly spoke afterwards, despite his deep disappointment, pinpointing their failure to keep adding sufficiently to their half-time tally:
“The key stage was early in the second half when we missed chances for easy scores and that kept Antrim in the game. Credit to Antrim – they did the same against Sligo. Good luck to them in the next stage of the competition.”
If they’re to progress to the final, rather than fall at the penultimate hurdle as they did last year, Antrim will have to start much better than they did here, as McEntee freely acknowledged:
“The lads didn’t do themselves justice in the first half at all… we lost a lot of the battles all over the pitch. Fermanagh were just an awful lot better than us.”
Fermanagh’s game-plan of sitting deep then breaking at speed and in numbers was working well from early on.
The Ernemen were also able to exploit the space in the Antrim half by kicking long and quickly, leading to the opening score from a mark by Sean Cassidy, then a point when Conor McShea found Ultan Kelm.
They might even have netted after 10 minutes when they countered through a series of hand-passes to find Callum Jones but his left-foot shot was parried away by Michael Byrne.
Antrim didn’t even have an effort at the posts until the 14th minute, and then it came from full-back Eunan Walsh launching the ball in long, forcing Fermanagh keeper to concede a ‘45′ from close to his crossbar. Antrim’s goalkeeper Byrne got them on the scoresheet from that, but Fermanagh’s dominance continued.
Saffrons boss McEntee perhaps sought to inspire his troops with a touchline fracas on the half-hour, exchanging pleasantries with Fermanagh coach Ronan O’Neill, but it was Fermanagh who finished the half more strongly.
The hosts’ defensive efforts were exemplified in the one minute of added time. First Lee Cullen blocked down an attempted Antrim shot – and when the ball shot backwards towards the Fermanagh goal there was captain Declan McCusker going low to gather and clear the danger.
However, it was Antrim who showed such drive and determination in the second half, Healy leading the way.
The Saffrons began moving the ball better, forcing more 45s converted by Byrne, whereas Fermanagh made more wrong decisions in attack.
The momentum had clearly shifted, Antrim confidence rising as the gap decreased, while self-belief seeped away from Fermanagh.
Byrne had the bravery to push up into attack repeatedly and contributed to the game’s decisive score, hand-passing to Cathal Hynds, who ran on and drilled a low shot inside the far post.
Deep into injury time Fermanagh had the opportunity to force extra time but Conor McShea’s shot struck the side-netting.
Driven to tears when his time in charge of his native Meath was ended by Tyrone, McEntee choked up again, this time with good emotion, as he concluded how Antrim had achieved this result:
“Character is a great quality…when things are going against you and you know you can back people, it’s a great quality to have.”
Fermanagh: S McNally; L Cullen, C Cullen, J Cassidy; D McCusker (capt.) (0-1), S McGullion, J Largo Elis; B Horan, J McDade (0-1); C Jones (0-1 free), C McShea, F O’Brien (0-1); U Kelm (0-2), R McCaffrey (0-1), S Cassidy (0-1, 0-1 mark, 0-1 free).
Substitutes: D McGurn for McGullion (49); G Jones (0-1) for C Jones (55); C Love for S Cassidy (55); T Bogue for Horan (71).
Antrim: M Byrne (0-3 45s); D Lynch, E Walsh, K Keenan; J McDonnell, J Finnegan, D McAleese (capt.); P McAleer, C Hynds (1-0); C McLarnon, P McBride (0-1 free), R McCann (Creggan); R McQuillan (0-1), R McCann (Aghagallon), M Jordan.
Substitutes: P Healy (0-2) for Lynch (43); C Hand (0-2) for McLarnon (43) (0-1); D McEnhill (0-1) for McQuillan (43): E Hynds (0-2) for McAleer (49); N Burns for Keenan (71).
Referee: Brendan Griffin (Kerry).