Cunningham setting sights on place in final
EIGHT years ago Paddy Cunningham sampled one of the highlights of his football career when he skippered Antrim in the Ulster final against Tyrone.
If defeat was the Saffrons’ lot on that occasion, then their grit and character ensured that they gave their all against Mickey Harte’s more clinical outfit before replicating these qualities in a riveting All-Ireland qualifier against Kerry.
Since then success at club and county level has eluded Cunningham but today he hopes to help take Lamh Dhearg a step closer to what would be their first Antrim Senior Championship title since 1992 by overcoming Creggan Kickhams in the first of the semi-finals at Glenavy (3.30).
While Cunningham (below), Declan Lynch and the Murray brothers Conor and Ryan backbone the side through their experience, the team’s overall cohesion will require to surface in abundance against an ambitious Kickhams side
— a fact readily acknowledged by Cunningham.
“They have some very talented players, they have plenty of pace and they know how to finish,” he stresses.
Ruairi McCann, Ricky Johnston and the Small brothers Conor and Kevin prop up a side that has progressed under the tutelage of exAntrim forward Kevin Madden.
Tomorrow reigning champions Cargin will put their title on the line against St John’s in the second semi-final at Hannahstown (3.30).
Cargin are laden with seasoned campaigners headed by Michael McCann, James Laverty, Kieran Close, Justin Crozier and Paul McCann.
They will face a St John’s side that has looked lively and enterprising to date with Patrick McBride, Jack Hannigan, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Conor Johnston and Michael Bradley very much to the fore. ARMAGH Harps booked their place in the County Championship final last night and but for the brilliance of Ballymacnab goalkeeper Conor McGivern they would have won by a much more handsome margin than 1-13 to 0-11.
McGivern pulled off five superb saves to prevent certain goals and indeed the only occasion on which he was beaten was in injury-time when the ball took a deflection off a defender and ended up in the net.
Even though the impressive Harps held sway at midfield, Ballymacnab always managed to look threatening, particularly when the talented Grugan brothers Ruairi and Jack were in possession.
Ruairi snapped up four points while Jack landed three but their efforts just failed to give their team the upper hand.
The sides were level at 0-6 each at the halfway stage and Harps looked to have shipped a devastating blow in the early stages of the second half when the influential Gareth Swift was shown a red card.
But the city side, with Damien McKenna proving an inspirational figure by landing three points, redoubled their efforts.
While they were not quite able to leave Ballymacnab in their slipstream, they always managed to hold at least a two-point advantage as the match ebbed towards the finish.
Ultan Lennon proved a livewire in the Harps attack and his ability to create space and pick off points underpinned his team’s attacking strategy.
But it was Conor Coulter who helped to seal Harps’ victory when his low shot was parried by the superb McGivern but the rebound deflected off a defender into the net to put added gloss on the final scoreline.
The match marked the end of Lenny Harbinson’s tenure as Ballymacnab manager — from today he will apply himself fully to his new role of Antrim team manager, which is a rather more demanding mission.