DECLAN Lynch insists the vacant Antrim senior football managerial post remains a very attractive one and feels the calibre of player exists within the county to rival the recent successes of their hurling counterparts.
The former captain endured an injury-ravaged season, undergoing shoulder surgery that saw him make a successful late bid to play some Championship football.
Unfortunately for the Lamh Dhearg clubman and Enda McGinley’s panel, it was a Championship campaign to forget.
The Saffrons bowed meekly out of the Ulster series to Cavan by 13 points and produced another tepid display against modest Leitrim in the Tailteann Cup, losing by five.
The pair of morale-sapping defeats prompted McGinley to quit the Antrim role along with Stevie O’Neill after just two years in charge, even though the county board was prepared to offer the Tyrone duo another two years.
Lynch said: “We got some seriously good coaching over the past two years and they leave us in Division Three after getting promoted, and we were also fighting to get into Division Two on the last day of the League.”
But the passive nature of the Cavan performance in the Ulster Championship was a bitter pill to swallow for both management and players, with Lynch putting it “on a par” with the infamous NFL Division Four mauling Antrim suffered in Wicklow during the COVID pandemic in October 2020.
“I had a poor year,” Lynch reflected. “I wrecked my shoulder in the club championship against Portglenone and had surgery before Christmas. I came back for the Westmeath game in the League.
“Performance-wise, I couldn’t get any rhythm in my play and that’s probably for the last two years and having injuries.
“Collectively, we were very competitive and going into the last League game we’d still a chance of getting promoted. But leading into the Championship game with Cavan something just wasn’t right. It was a poor, poor performance.
“It was great to have the game staged at Corrigan Park but we didn’t give the crowd a chance to get involved in the game and get behind us. We didn’t use that.
“I would put it on a par with the Wicklow game down in Aughrim where we just didn’t play that day either.”
Lynch added: “And heading to Leitrim in the Tailteann Cup I thought we’d a really good chance of going to Croke Park. I know there is no point in us saying we’re trying to win an All-Ireland for Antrim at this stage – that’s not going to happen.
“But getting a run-out in Croke Park is the next best thing. I was really looking forward to that and was optimistic. But it just didn’t happen.
“In the second half down in Leitrim we left ourselves with too much to do. Realistically, we should be winning those games. Our season just fizzled out.
“And with Enda leaving, it kind of sums up where Antrim football is at right now. We had a manager for two years and they’re gone. Now we’re back to the drawing board.”
Lynch says the footballers are crying out for a Darren Gleeson-type manager, the Tipperary man having delivered two Joe McDonagh Cups with the county hurlers and preserved their Division One status.
“You’ve got to be jealous of the guys getting stripped beside you who are going to play Division One hurling. That’s not jealousy in a negative way because we’d all love to be at that level.
“It just shows you what can be achieved; the hurlers are holding their own in Division One but we have young players coming through in the county that can push the footballers on and get into Division Two.
“The key thing for the next manager is that they’re given time – not that Enda wasn’t given time – as I think he put Antrim in a better position. But, at the same time, we need someone who’s going to come in and do a Darren Gleeson-type job and stay there and drive things on.”
