Ulster SFC: Antrim will go to Armagh 'with no fear' insists captain Peter Healy

Antrim captain Peter Healy says the Saffrons will go to the Athletic Grounds "with no fear" despite being big underdogs for Saturday's Ulster SFC opener against Armagh.

But Healy is confident Antrim will be "brave" at the Athletic Grounds.

"We know what Armagh's got. We know what we've got," said Healy.

"We played Armagh two years down there (in the Ulster Championship) and we were well in the game for 45 or 50 minutes.

"They got a few lads off the bench and higher levels of strength and conditioning came into it and they pushed on towards the end."

The winners of Saturday's game will face Cavan in the quarter-final on 22 April.

Antrim increase physicality

Two years on, Antrim have added noticeable physicality to their squad, including newcomers the Finnegan twins Joseph and Patrick, who both played on winning Rugby Schools' Cup teams for RBAI as they combined the two footballing codes during their teens before being drafted into the senior Saffrons panel by new boss Andy McEntee this season.

Wicklow manager Oisin McConville said in BBC Sport Northern Ireland's The GAA Social podcast this week that he had noted Antrim's increased bulk when his side faced them in a recent challenge game, and that while he expects Armagh to win, he "wouldn't completely dismiss" the Saffrons' chances.

Antrim will also be buoyed to see Rian O'Neill and Andrew Murnin miss out on Armagh's matchday squad having picked up injuries in the league.

St Enda's club-man Healy is as passionate an advocate for Antrim football as you could meet, given that he has spent years travelling back and forth from his work place in Dublin to soldier for his beloved county.

Like the majority of the Antrim squad, Healy has yet to experience an Ulster Senior Championship win with the Saffron County's last victory in the provincial series coming nine years ago when they defeated Fermanagh.

More recently, Antrim's Division Three League campaign was a rather extraordinary smorgasbord of performances, which veered from an embarrassing 4-27 to 0-8 capitulation against Westmeath in round five to a last-gasp, back-to-the-wall round-six victory over promoted Cavan two weeks later - after they had led by 10 points early in the second half.

The Saffrons went into the Mullingar game seemingly still reeling from losing a big lead a week earlier against eventually promoted Fermanagh at Corrigan Park after suffering exactly the same fate in round two against Down.

Healy makes no excuses for the Westmeath walloping, but says the response in the next fixture against Cavan was indicative of the spirit within the squad, despite what their many detractors may feel.

"Going into that Cavan game, there were a lot of questions being asked throughout Antrim and in other places as well in terms of 'what is this Antrim team?' and I think we showed up against Cavan and showed serious character and gave a serious performances," says the skipper.

"Things got a bit ropey in the last 10 minutes but we steadied the ship and got the couple of scores and managed to see that game out.

"We've been brave in big games. We really went for the game against Down and against Fermanagh and we ended up being 10 and 11 points up and just a bit of inexperience, a lack of know-how, we probably let it get away from us.

"We've made big strides. We put a lot of work in this year and Antrim football is definitely on the up.

"Andy is brilliant. There's great buy in from everyone and he gets boys to run through a brick wall for him.

"We're trying to be more physical and run the ball with the likes of Marc Jordan and lads who are big units who can run the ball through midfield. We're trying to play to our strengths and Andy has definitely had that effect on us.

"And with those young lads who have been brought in, we're looking to get another big push through the summer with the Ulster Championship and the Tailteann Cup probably."

Antrim must avoid another no-show

What Antrim cannot countenance is another championship no-show such as last year's 1-20 to 0-10 home humbling by Cavan, when some pundits had tipped the Saffrons to beat the 2020 Ulster champions.

That was followed by a very poor performance in the Tailteann Cup defeat by Leitrim which had their season over by late May and experienced campaigner Ryan Murray admitted last week that the Saffrons "maybe didn't put importance" into the new competition. Healy appears to concur.

"We know within our squad, there's brilliant character and everyone would die for Antrim football but it's about showing that to everyone else and starting to build a bit of faith in our team," adds the captain.

"We've learnt a lot this year and hopefully another year, another good season with Andy, we can push on again next year and (before that) there's no reason that there couldn't be a bit of silverware this summer."