Joe Kernan: Jody’s men need to show some faith

Home
> Sport
> GAA

GAA

Joe Kernan believes Tony Scullion can be Antrim's driving force in future

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

The prophets of doom would appear to be enjoying a field day to some extent following Antrim's capitulation to Cavan last Sunday.

But it would be wrong to maintain that Jody Gormley's side are staring into a black hole.

Certainly, they made mistakes against the Breffni side and, yes, they may not have realised their full potential but to suggest that they are " going nowhere", as I have been told, is not correct.

They created a number of excellent scoring chances, landed 1-14 in all and for the greater part of the game they were well in touch with Donal Keogan's men.

But there were four or five crucial scoring opportunities spurned in the second-half that I felt ultimately militated against their chances of winning the game.

And I firmly believe that had Michael Magill, who impressed me when he came on as a substitute, been positioned on the edge of the square as a target man he would have given the Cavan defence plenty of worries.

Magill, I thought, could have played off Paddy Cunningham and Conor McGourty, both intelligent players who along with Tomas McCann would merit consideration for most forward lines in the country.

Magill has strength and a physical presence that would have bolstered the Antrim attack which is composed mainly of light players.

You have to take on board the fact, too, that Antrim missed the services of big Joe Quinn more than most people realise. You can't buy the kind of experience he has, and had he and Michael McCann been drilling in quick, first-time high balls to the likes of Magill I don't believe the Cavan defence would have been all that comfortable.

Quinn would surely have been a force at midfield - he is well versed in championship football and I know it was a setback to Jody Gormley last week when he learned that Joe would not make the cut because of injury.

Of course, Seanie Johnston did a lot of damage to Antrim yet I thought that James Loughrey performed well on him for a decent part of the match. But the simple truth of the matter is that Johnston was virtually unmarkable on Sunday - a lot of very good defenders would have struggled against him in that kind of form.

Having said that, the rest of the Cavan attack did not set the world on fire but that says much for the efforts of the Antrim defence.

I know that Donal Keogan has been expressing his dissatisfaction with aspects of his team's performance and I can see where he is coming from.

I was near the touchline and I heard him roaring at his players: " Get it in quickly!"

He knows that defences hate having to defend against first-time deliveries, especially when they are faced with two versus two situations and the half-backs are caught upfield and unable to provide any real cover.

It's this tactic of hitting the frontmen that has been paying off for a lot of teams and although certain managers will devise ways of trying to counter this, there is no doubt that in the modern game it is a strategy that can prove very lucrative depending on the quality of the players you have in the inside line.

If this Antrim side can stick together and keep working at their game, they can come good. You have to be aware, too, that they went into the game against Cavan still licking their wounds following their two depressing defeats against Waterford and Tipperary in the National League.

I know that managers view the Championship in a much different light to the National League but there is no doubt that a period of consistency in the league can be carried over into the Championship.

I heard Jody Gormley express the view that "belief only comes from winning - and he's dead right.

Winning gives you confidence and that bit of authority. This usually means that when you try things, they come off. When you are lacking self-belief and morale is low, it's very hard to get even basic things right.

I would not subscribe to the theory that this Antrim side have little to offer. Indeed, I think that over the course of the next couple of years they could become a more potent force.

There is plenty of individual talent, youthful exuberance in spades and a marked desire to become winners.

They are going back into the Tommy Murphy Cup having lost in the final of that competition to Wicklow last year. And look what that same Wicklow did to Kildare last Sunday - they are still a Division Four side too, remember.

No, Antrim must keep the faith, keep working and start to believe in themselves. The core elements are there - they are enthusiastic, fit and willing - and what they need now is a greater focus. Things won't happen overnight - but they will happen along the line. Their destiny is in their own hands.