Taken from Hogan Stand Website
James Colgan in action during U21 game with
Antrim
Down under the management
of Peter McGrath the former All-Ireland senior
championship boss got their Ulster U-21 football
championship campaign off to a winning start
when at Pairc Esler in Newry on Wednesday
night, 19th of March they convincingly defeated
Antrim on a scoreline of 1-17 to 0-8.
The Mourne side which included
many of the 2005 All-Ireland minor winning
side are amongst the favourites to win the
U-21 title this season despite the non-availability
of one of their key players, Martin Clarke
presently playing another code ’down
under’.
Despite the final scoreline, the visiting
Antrim side started this game in impressive
fashion. They took the game to the hosts for
the opening ten minutes, but they failed to
convert that early pressure and possession
into scores.
As the half progressed the
home side began to settle and with James Colgan
and Kevin McKernan getting to grips with the
midfield exchanges and the defence watertight
and snuffing out any Antrim attacks they began
to dominate. With corner-forward Paul McComiskey
to the fore he scored three points in that
opening half it was the Down side that went
in at the break in a favourable position leading
by 1-8 to 0-1 - the Down goal coming just
before the interval from an Antrim defensive
mistake which was capitalised on by an alert
home full-forward Ryan Kelly who got the ball
in the net on the second attempt.
Ryan Kelly in action for Down U21's
Antrim looked as if they
might might make a real game of it in the
opening minutes of the second-half with early
points from Burke, Hassan and McGourty. However,
the Down side didn’t panic and they
slowly but surely took control of proceedings
once again. With a plentiful of quality ball
going into the forwards, and the talented
Paul McComiskey on form - he finished the
game with nine points - four from frees, there
was no way back for the Saffrons as Down duly
qualified for a semi-final meeting with Tyrone.
This was an excellent team
performance from the Down side, after the
initial opening ten minutes when they struggled
to get their game together. They are sound
and tenacious in defence, have a hard-working
midfield, and in attack they have players
who know where the posts are, with that extra
magic needed to win championship games coming
from the impressive corner-forward Paul McComiskey.
On this form they will be hard to beat if
they play with the same tenacity and hunger
in their remaing games in the championship.
Antrim will be disappointed
with their overall performance on the night.
They started the game brightly, but once the
scores weren’t coming after winning
great possession they seemed to lose their
way, and the Down goal just before the interval
really killed the game off as a contest. They
were always playing ’catch-up’
in the second-half against a Down side that
was growing in confidence as the game progressed.
Down - M. McAllister; M.
Digney, C. Murney, H. Magee; C. Garvey 0-1,
K. Duffin, T. Hanna; James Colgan capt., K.
McKernan 0-1; C. Maginn, C. Magee 0-3, E.
Toner; T. Brannigan 0-2, Ryan Kelly 1-0, Paul
McComiskey 0-9, four frees.
Subs - J. Murphy for Garvey; J. O’Reilly
for Toner; D. Lavery for Branigan and J. Caldwell
for McKernan.
Antrim - B. Marron; D. Harbinson,
K. Garland, K. O’Boyle; E. Gill, J.
Crozier capt. G. Crossey; S. McCloskey, S.
Burke 0-1; B. Hassan 0-5, T. McCann, N. McKeever;
C. Murray, C. J. McGourty 0-2, G. McAleese.
Subs - K. Marron for McAleese; P. Maguire
for E. Gill.
Referee - D. McQuillan from
Monaghan.
