Antrim made it back-to-back wins in Division 4 of the Allianz Football League after a seven-point victory over Wicklow on Saturday evening.
Antrim had a ten-point half-time lead over their opponents despite an opening 12 minutes without a score for either side.
The game had the feeling of both sides being terrified to make any mistakes early on, but when Adam Loughran opened the scoring for the Saffrons they took the ascendency and never looked back from then on.
Moments after the opening score a driving run from midfielder Eunan Walsh managed to find himself inside the 13-yard line and opted to float a pass to the oncoming Pat Shivers at the back-post for the first goal of the half.
Paddy McAleer and Dominic McEnhill both struck for Antrim with McEnhill's two-pointer opening a huge gap between the hosts and Wicklow.
Antrim’s period of dominance only got better when on the 22nd minute a second goal hit the net after Ryan McQuillan found space and rifled his effort beyond the Wicklow shot-stopper as the Glens went from strength to strength in the opening half and had double digits on the scoreboard before Wicklow registered their first score.
The travellers did manage to make some waves in the offensive front with scores from Eoin Darcey, Kevin Quinn and Sean Murphy gave Wicklow some relief as the half tailed.
A second two-pointer from Dominic McEnhill sent Antrim into the break with a major advantage and Wicklow had a mountain to climb in Portglenone.
The second half saw Wicklow begin to climb the mountain after a string of scores from Kevin Quinn and Eoin Darcy began to eat into Antrim’s lead and when Mark Jackson thumped a two-point free between the posts worry began to creep in for the hosts.
Wicklow managed a major of their own and it came in the most fortunate way after Oisin McGaynor’s shot was saved by John McNabb but the ricochet off a saffron jersey saw the ball trickle into the net and the Antrim men began to bend, but they did not break.
Marc Jordan’s quick-fire brace of scores followed by Ryan McQuillan earned the North coast men some respite as they stopped the bleeding mid-way through the second half.
John McNabb’s two-point free cut the tension in Portglenone, and when substitute Ryan Murray got his score, the worry was eased for the home support.
Wicklow did tally a number of scores in added time with Chris O’Brien’s two-pointer being the pick of the bunch, but it was too little too late and despite some last-gasp defending Antrim ran out worthy winners on the night.
Antrim: John McNabb (0-4, 1tpf, 0-02f); John Morgan, Cathal Hynds, Kavan Keenan; Eoghan McCabe (capt), Sean O’Neill, Marc Jordan (0-02); Paddy McAleer (0-03, 1tp), Eunan Walsh; Conor Hand (0-01), Adam Loughran (0-01), Ronan Boyle; Ryan McQuillan (1-02), Pat Shivers (1-00), Dominic McEnhill (0-4, 1tpf, 1tp)
Subs: Ryan Murray (0-1) on for Ronan Boyle (53), Oisin Doherty on for Adam Loughran, Patrick Finnegan on for Cathal Hynds (63), James McAuley on for Kavan Keenan (55), Tiernan McCormick on for Sean O’Neill (69)
Wicklow: Mark Jackson 0-04 (2tpf); Cian Deering, Craig Maguire, Tom Moran; Gavin Fogarty, Malachy Stone, Darragh Fee; Dean Healy (capt), Jack Hardy; Cillian McDonald, Padraig O’Toole, Kevin Quinn (0-03); Matt Nolan, Sean Murphy (0-01), Eoin Darcy (0-04, 3f)
Subs: Christopher O’Brien 0-02 (1tp) on for Gavin Fogarty (51), Oisin McGaynor (1-00) for Sean Murphy (49), Jo Prendergast for Cillian McDonald (49)
Referee: Enda McFeely (Donegal)
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