Antrim Senior Football Championship
ST GALL’S have got some club legends back involved again - both on and off the pitch - and they raised a few eyebrows with their commendable fifth-placed finish in Division One this year.
Home is where the heart is for former Antrim goalkeeper Chris Kerr as he has returned to his native club in 2024 after a couple of seasons with Armagh club Ballymacnab, where he now lives.
The 38-year-old has been an invaluable asset between the sticks upon his return as his former team-mates Terry O’Neill, Sean Kelly and Colin Brady - all 2010 All-Ireland winners under Lenny Harbinson and former county stars - are now patrolling the St Gall’s sideline.
The indefatigable Aodhan Gallagher is back playing senior football as is Mickey Pollock.
Niall Burns will have improved greatly for the season he spent with the Antrim footballers while Conal McGirr, Brendan Bradley and Johnny McCaffrey posted strong league performances.
St Gall’s ruled the roost in Antrim in the Noughties and the first half of the next decade, accruing 13 county championships.
They face a stiff examination of their perceived improvement as they make the short trip to Musgrave Park to face Division One champions St Brigid’s in Group Four.
Down managerial legend Peter McGrath is now in his second season with St Mary’s, Aghagallon having watched them lose a quarter-final encounter by a point to eventual champions Cargin last year.
Aghagallon have the raw materials to make a decent fist of the 2024 championship having lost back-to-back finals in 2022 and 2023.
Kickham’s Creggan will probably feel the same as Aghagallon in that they shouldn’t feel too far away from a podium appearance after Gerard McNulty guided them to their first county championship in 67 years in 2021.
Joe Cassidy has taken the reins at Creggan and will have been content with their fifth place finish in Division One as they make the trip to Aghagallon (Sun, 5pm) in the other Group Four tie.
Cargin are aiming for another three-in-a-row after former boss Damian Cassidy managed that feat (2018, ‘19, ‘20) before the reins were passed to his assistant Ronan Devlin in 2022.
The Ballinderry man has won back-to-back county championships and although Cargin still rely on some of the elder statesmen they do have a group of players now in their early 20s and who’ve already experienced championship success.
The fact that the Erin’s Own men lost to St Brigid’s in the Division One play-off will probably only sharpen their focus and will want to put an early marker down against O’Donovan Rossa on their home patch in Group Two.
Rossa finished mid-table in Division One as boss Hugh McGettigan trialled a number of minor players who performed exceptionally well and are knocking on the door for starting spots ahead of Saturday’s trip to Cargin.
The west Belfast men are also bolstered by the return of dual ace Stephen Beatty who missed virtually all of the Antrim footballers’ season after suffering a bad shoulder injury in a Dr McKenna Cup game against Monaghan.
Beatty has played a few league games and will be integral to Rossa’s championship campaign.
County men Michael Byrne, Dominic McEnhill, Gerard Walsh and Cormac McGettigan are also back to deepen Rossa’s options.
Rossa’s west Belfast neighbours St John’s, still being managed by Aaron Douglas, will be pushing to make the top two but they have a banana-skin opener away to Tir na nOg Randalstown (Sat, 5pm).
Meanwhile, Group One opponents Lamh Dhearg and Naomh Éanna approach the 2024 championship with a sense of trepidation, having finished in a disappointing 11th and 12th place in Division One, respectively.
Lamh Dhearg, the 2017 county champions, had to secure a win over St John’s to avoid relegation, but they’re hoping with county players – Marc Jordan and Declan Lynch – available again, they can claim an opening day win.
Stephen Ramsey has taken the managerial reins this year and is assisted by Stevie Bunting and Mickey Boyle.
They’re still getting a tune out of veteran attacker and free-taker Paddy Cunningham while Conor Murray and Terry McCrudden bring a finishing excellence to the side.
Ryan Murray is fit-again after a year out with a cruciate injury but received what many regarded as a rather harsh suspension resulting from an incident in Antrim’s Tailteann Cup game with Fermanagh, which carries into the club season.
St Enda’s have been shorn of some key players throughout the season and it doesn’t look as though Carl McCabe’s personnel selection will improve either.
Antrim ace Peter Healy has transferred to namesakes St Enda’s, Ballyboden in Dublin having been travelling up and down the road for the last number of years.
Healy’s loss has been keenly felt. A few St Enda’s players, including top forward Odhran Eastwood, are in Australia and highly-rated dual ace Joe Maskey has committed to playing only hurling this year.
Still, the Hightown Road men took Cargin’s scalp in Division One back and as with every Carl McCabe team, they’ll post a good account of themselves in Hannahstown.
Antrim SFC fixtures: Sat/Sun
SFC Group One: Lamh Dhearg v Naomh Éanna (Sat, 5pm)
SFC Group Two: Tir na nOg Randalstown v St John’s (Sat, 5pm); Erin’s Own Cargin v O’Donovan Rossa (Sat, 5pm)
SFC Group Three: Con Magees, Glenravel v St Ergnatt’s, Moneyglass (Sun, 2pm)
SFC Group Four: St Brigid’s v St Gall’s (Sun, 2pm); St Mary’s, Aghagallon v Kickham’s Creggan (Sun, 5pm)