Full Time in Corrigan Park and it’s the home side Antrim who progress to the Tailteann Cup Semi-Finals after beating Carlow 1-19 to 1-15 in what was a thrilling encounter.

Antrim began the game slowly, registering three wides early into the game. Carlow capitalised on their opponents’ wastefulness as they took the lead in the third minute through Ross Dunphy and an excellent score from open play.

Carlow looked sharp in the opening ten minutes, limiting Antrim’s chances and keeping their score tally at nil.

In the 10th minute, however, Antrim began to revive their half through the boot of Dominic McEnhill who scored four points from frees in as many minutes to turn the game on its head. McEnhill’s points came at a crucial time, as Carlow dominated possession.

Carlow let their indiscipline get the better of them, giving the home side far too many easy chances. It wasn’t until the 20th minute that Carlow were able to register their second point of the game, to reduce the deficit to three points, such was Antrim’s mid-half dominance.

Three scores from Darragh Foley, broken up by a score from Antrim’s Cathal Hynds, saw the momentum of the game shift significantly. The travelling Carlow fans were in full voice as they watched their side claw back a foothold in the game after making the near three-hour trip up North.

With just minutes until half-time however, the home side came again and produced a score that would prove pivotal to the game’s result. A Ruairi McCann goal in the 32nd minute was hugely significant, the forward scoring his fifth goal of the Tailteann Cup.

He followed up his brilliant score with another point to increase Antrim’s advantage to six points as the Half-Time Whistle blew.

Antrim continued to control the opening minutes of the second half thanks to scores from the goalscorer McCann, Marc Jordan, and the ever-reliable Dominic McEnhill who would finish the game having scored nine points, 3 from open play.

Carlow were soon faced with an eight-point deficit to try to overturn, and fought back brilliantly for the rest of the second-half. Scores from Ross Dunphy, Darragh Foley and Conor Crowley prevented Antrim from running away with the victory, but it was a 58th minute goal from Mikey Bambrick that got the Carlow fans hoping for an unprecedented comeback.

The two sides traded cards, as Antrim’s Eoghan McCabe and Ronan Boyle were shown black cards in the 64th and 72nd minute, whilst Carlow’s Jamie Clarke was also shown black in the 64th.

Three late scores from Darragh Foley made it a three point game with just minutes remaining, but Carlow let their discipline slip in the dying seconds. Antrim’s Dominic McEnhill was awarded a free, and converted his 6th of the game to bring the game out of Carlow’s reach.

Carlow fought to the end, but ultimately it just wasn’t quite enough.