McGinley brings positivity to the Saffrons

ENDA McGinley’s positivity and ambition has left one Antrim player excited about the future.

Niall Delargy is one of the more senior players on the Antrim team, having been there since 2013. He has played under Frank Dawson, Liam Bradley, Frank Fitzsimons and Lenny Harbinson. So Enda McGinley will be his fifth manager and he is excited by the prospect.

“It is a breath of fresh air. He is well respected and has a well respected back room team. He has Stephen O’Neill whose name speaks for itself. Stephen Quinn is in there as coach. Sean Kelly is in from St Gall’s. He has a lot of respect and is still playing on the club scene.

“Everyone knows how good a player he is and that will translate into the management side.

“It is is an exciting time.”

But as the county scene is shut down there has been no collective training for the Antrim team. So the team has not joined up as a group in person though that should happen within the next few months when rule are officially relaxed.

“They have been keeping tabs on us and have give out training programmes. I am looking forward to getting back.

“We have had Zoom calls, and we have been on the messaging platform Slack, where we are keeping up on different things. The communications channels are open.”

Delargy has had a few meetings with his new manager and the first impressions of the Tyrone man have been very positive.

“He is very enthusiastic and passionate and he has brought together a great panel. A few ones have joined and they have added quality. It is definitely promising for the years ahead.

“There is positivity. Enda has great experience as a player and that only adds to it. There is optimism and excitement in the panel it will just come down to getting the results on the pitch.”

At the moment Antrim cannot meet up as a group. Clubs will be able to return to training collectively on April 12. The expectation for this year was that the intercounty season was going to go first and then the club action would go forward later in the year. But the GAA are due to make an official announcement in the next month about the exact plan for action, it is only then that players will know how their season will pan out.

Delargy said: “The uncertainty of the league campaign and the championship is frustrating at the minute.”