By Michael McMullan

MARK Doran’s outlook on Antrim’s season is the same as it was in the moments after their Ulster Championship exit to Derry.

The Tailteann Cup is their level, it’s their All-Ireland and they will be throwing everything at Carlow on Sunday in Netwatch Cullen Park.

It’s a repeat of the opening round of the league when two quick scoring bursts from Joe Murphy’s side left Antrim chasing a game in Portglenone they were never going to catch.

Having dug into the footage of their championship defeat to Derry, Doran still stops at the two key factors. Firstly, despite playing against the breeze, they were in reasonable shape, trailing 1-7 to 1-4. Two breaches left them seven points down at half-time and the mountain was steeper.

Secondly, while they created goal chances in the second half, their skill execution let them down and Derry pulled away.

“Whether Antrim people like it or not, this is our level,” Doran said with Sunday’s trip to Carlow coming into view.

Getting their hands on the Anglo Celt Cup was always going to be a tall order. They needed to hammer at Derry with all their might.

“It’s parked now and it’s just all systems go for Carlow,” Doran said. “The one thing you’re always hoping for in an open draw, you always want a home game.

“They did win Division Four and Joe Murphy has done a serious job. They probably wouldn’t have been happy the way they went out against Wicklow in the Championship. That makes it even more dangerous, so they’ll be hunting a performance.”

Doran is happy with their preparation in training in the weeks since the Ulster Championship. Before putting the Derry game to the back of their minds, they took a look at aspects for improvement.

He has added some of the u-20s to freshen up the squad and is hoping Conhuir Johnston can recover in time to bolster their attacking options.

Johnston’s Cargin teammate Sean O’Neill is out injured. Kevin McCann is missing too and it looks like Ronan Quinn won’t be back in time.

Looking ahead

“Once we analysed the Derry game it was parked and it was all systems go,” Doran said.

“We are looking forward to the Tailteann Cup and there is more excitement even among the players, that the groups are away. There’s more jeopardy in it now.

“If you’re in a perfect world you’d love the home fixture, but you’re going away and it is very hard to go to another team’s ground to win a championship game.

“We’ll go after Carlow with everything we’ll have, and hopefully it’ll be good enough.”

Doran is a native of Down, a former player and coached them during Paddy Tally’s tenure as manager.

Speaking to Gaelic Life, before Down’s fate of being destined to this year’s Tailteann Cup, Doran felt Westmeath, Cavan or Down would be red hot favourites to win the title.

“The Tailteann Cup is our All-Ireland and we are going after it with everything because at the end of the day, that’s our level,” Doran said of Antrim’s new focus.

“It’s a national trophy and of the 17 teams, including New York, there’s probably 12 or 13 teams who fancy themselves and momentum is massive.”

“If you look at Down, Westmeath and Cavan, I don’t think that’s the reason the Tailteann Cup was brought in.

“Take the last four winners – Meath, Down, Kildare and Westmeath – I don’t think the Tailteann Cup serves those teams’ purpose.”

SEE YA SUNDAY…Mikey Bambrick and Eoghan McCabe pictured at Tuesday’s Tailteann Cup launch in Croke Park

Doran has always been a big fan of the league as a competition and how teams of a similar level are jostling for position, week on week. He  questions the GAA on why it’s played in inclement weather.

“This is the time of the year you want to be playing football and Carlow will be saying the same,” he said.

“It’s going to be a massive test and if you win your first game, it takes serious pressure off.

“Whereas if you lose your first game, you’re last chance saloon but it’s an exciting time.

“I was involved in it one year with Wicklow and we played Down in the quarter-final, I think there was 14,000 people at in Newry, so it shows the interest that Down people have had in it.”

Antrim will make the journey south this weekend with eyes on making it the start of a of a push for silverware.

Carlow stand in their way, a team they studied in great detail before the league opener.

After a bright Antrim start, two Carlow goals changed the temperature before the Saffrons found a foothold by half-time.

“At the start of the second half, in a four-minute spell, they hit us for five points,” Doran recalls, reciting a list of their key players.

“They got two two-pointers at another point and that done the damage.

“It probably hit us hard that day because we put a lot of effort into the first game of the league. We were a few bodies down, but the better team always wins.

“When you think back to that game, yes there were big moments, but I am a big believer in it, it’s not one big massive moment, it’s just all the small things that you do over the course of a game.

“We just didn’t do enough of them to win the game. We’re going to have to try and tidy up those 500 or 600 things. Hopefully do the majority of them right and that’ll get us over the line.”