DERMOT HAS LONG LEESE AGREEMENT

AFTER an injury-plagued 2023, Dermot Mcaleese is itching to put his shoulder to the wheel for both club and county this year.

The Antrim vice-captain (above) missed the majority of the League last season and their Ulster SFC loss to Armagh after breaking his jaw in the one-point loss to Down in round two.

He returned to action later in the summer as Antrim made it to the Tailteann Cup semi-final, only to lose to Meath at Croke Park.

On his return to club action with Portglenone, he ruptured a pectoral muscle, meaning another eight weeks on the sideline.

As the Saffrons prepare to travel to Limerick for their Division Three opener on Sunday, Mcaleese hopes to see a lot more game time this season.

“I am back and raring to go – I just want to put last year behind me,” said Mcaleese. “It was an up and down year with injuries for myself, but I’m ready to go for Sunday, thank God. I’m looking forward to it.

“You see boys getting beat by a point or two and you see the effort they are putting in, you just want to be on the field, trying to drive it on with them.

“Hopefully, I’ll have a bit more luck this year and I’m looking forward to getting stuck into it with Antrim and Portglenone.”

One-point losses to both Down and Fermanagh put paid to Antrim’s hopes of promotion while a number of poor shot selections cost them as they lost out by two points to Meath in the Tailteann Cup semi-final (inset).

At club level, Mcaleese’s luck didn’t improve any as Casement’s bowed out at the semi-final stage of the Antrim SFC for the fifth successive season after losing to Dunloy.

Reflecting on Antrim’s campaign, Mcaleese said they need to learn to close games out.

“That was the story of a few of our games last year. We put ourselves in great positions, but we didn’t quite see it out,” said the Portglenone club man.

“It is getting the consistency right. We were excellent against Cavan, but then we had the game against Westmeath [a 31-point loss] as well.

“It is putting it together for six or seven games and being in the hunt at the end.”