Sean Quigley stars as Fermanagh thump Antrim
By Orla Bannon
Last Updated: 05/07/15 5:59pm
Sean Quigley hit 0-14 in Brewster Park as Fermanagh booked their place in Round 3A of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers with a 1-21 to 0-11 win over Antrim.
The full-forward bagged seven points in each half against the Saffrons, including six from play, with raiding defender Marty O'Brien scoring the only goal of the game in the 54th minute.
There were 10 points between the teams when they met in the Ulster Championship five weeks ago, but Fermanagh increased their winning margin to 13 and await Monday's draw to see who they will face in the next round.
It was nip and tuck in the early stages with the sides level three times in the first eight minutes. Quigley opened the scoring in the first minute for Fermanagh and Tomas Corrigan also scored a nice point, but two Michael Pollock points kept Antrim in touch.
Owen Gallagher's chipped point actually put the visitors ahead but they failed to score for the next 23 minutes as Fermanagh took control.
The home side hit seven unanswered points with Barry Mulrone, Paul McCusker and Niall Cassidy on target from play, while Quigley was clinical from placed balls.
The big Roslea man's first-half tally included three frees and two '45's to give Fermanagh a 0-11 to 0-5 interval lead.
It looked ominous for Antrim when they trailed by 0-9 to 0-3 but former AFL Brisbane Lions player Niall McKeever made an impact when brought on.
He scored a point with his first touch in the 31st minute to end the scoring drought and two minutes later, Justin Crozer popped up from defence with a score to reduce the deficit to four.
Fermanagh finished the first half strongly, with Paul McCusker drawing a point-blank save from Antrim goalkeeper Chris Kerr and Quigley nailing a '45 to stretch the lead out to six at the break.
Antrim's water carrier and Fermanagh native Mick McGurn, the Ireland rugby team's former strength and conditioning coach, was sent to the stands before the break for encroaching onto the pitch.
Antrim brought on CJ McGourty to add some sparkle to their attack but it was Quigley who made a bright start to the second period with a point after 17 seconds.
He nailed his fourth from play three minutes later with a superb effort with the outside of his boot before Mark Sweeney got Antrim's first of the second half to leave it 0-13 to 0-6.
Quigley continued his one-man wrecking ball on the Antrim full-back line, scoring freely from play with feet and fist with the visitors struggling to stay in the game.
McGourty's introduction did help and he landed a special left-footed point while off balance and hit 0-3 in the second half, but it was too little too late with Quigley in rampant form.
The only surprise was that Quigley didn't score the only goal of the game. That honour fell to wing-back Marty O'Brien, who found himself in the scoring zone after a mazy run and drilled the ball high into the roof of the net.
That put Fermanagh 1-17 to 0-9 ahead after 54 minutes and the final quarter was a non-event with Antrim accepting their fate as their championship drew to a close.
Fermanagh: T Treacy; M Jones, T Daly, N Cassidy (0-1); D McCusker, J McMahon, M O'Brien (1-0); E Donnelly, R O'Callaghan; B Mulrone (0-1), R Jones, D Kelly; P McCusker (0-1), S Quigley (0-14, 5f, 2 '45'), T Corrigan (0-1).
Subs: D Kille (0-1) for Corrigan (18), C Jones (0-1) for D McCusker (60), A Breen for O'Brien (63), C Cullen for O'Callaghan (67), S McManus (0-1) for Quigley (70).
Antrim: C Kerr (0-1, a '45'); N Delargy, S McVeigh, J Laverty; J Crozier (0-1), T Scullion, R Johnston; C Murray, B Hasson; D Lynch, D McAleese, M Pollock (0-3, 1f); M Sweeney (0-1), R Murray, O Gallagher (0-1).
Subs: N McKeever (0-1) for Lynch (28), CJ McGourty (0-3, 1f) for McAleese (HT), J Dowling for Hasson (47), R McGrady for McVeigh (51), N O'Neill for Gallagher (59), C Duffin for R Murray (61).
Ref: B Cassidy (Derry).
