Antrim 3-13 Fermanagh 1-12

Two late goals from Oisin Doherty and Ruairi McCann powered Antrim past Fermanagh and puts them through to the quarter finals of the Tailteann Cup.

The game was nip and tuck throughout, with the Saffron’s just pulling away in the end to win by seven-points.

Fermanagh controlled the early exchanges in what was a cagey opening quarter, but Kieran Donnelly’s men shot into a 4-1 lead.

Each of the full forwards, Ultan Kelm, Tommy McCaffrey and Sean Quigley (2) got on the scoresheet, while Quigley’s quick free played in Ryan Lyons for a glorious goal chance, but Michael Byrne stood strong and turned the ball away.

Antrim bustled back into contention with five on the trot. Dominic McEnhill (2), Adam Loughran (2) and Ruairi McCann all raised white flags.

A huge Quigley score minimised the gap but only momentarily as Antrim captain Peter Healy raced forward from full back to fire over the final point of the half, with Andy McEntee’s men ahead 0-7 to 0-5 at the break.

Fermanagh started the second half just as they did the first, with Kelm pointing inside the first 18 seconds while Ryan Jones followed it up with an equalising score.

And from the kickout, the Erne men nabbed the first goal of the game. Kelm found McCaffrey free, and he played through Lyons who made no mistake this time in front of the posts.

Like the first half, Antrim battled back bravely and Adam Loughran’s 52^nd minute goal squeezed them one ahead. The sides traded scores as the Saffron’s held their one-point lead before super sub Oisin Doherty rattled home their second goal.

On a breakaway move, Ronan Boyle played through Doherty, who’s effort at a point dropped beautifully over Sean McNally’s head and into the top corner of the net. They followed that up quickly with a third goal, this time Ruairi McCann (Aghagallon) hitting the net.

That sees Antrim top the group and advance to the last eight while Fermanagh must make do with a preliminary quarter final place.