Antrim 1-19 Carlow 1-15: Saffrons progress to Tailteann Cup semi-finals

Half-back Marc Jordan produced another strong-running display for Antrim and also notched a point for the Saffrons

Antrim progressed to the Tailteann Cup semi-finals by battling past Carlow 1-19 to 1-15 at Corrigan Park.

Carlow hit the opening point but that was the only time they led as Antrim moved 0-7 to 0-4 up before Aghagallon man Ruairi McCann notched their goal.

That helped the Saffrons lead 1-8 to 0-5 at half-time and they extended that to 1-11 to 0-6 after the resumption.

Mikey Bambrick's 59th-minute goal cut Antrim's lead to 1-15 to 1-11 but the Saffrons held their nerve to progress.

Antrim join Down, Meath and Laois in the semi-finals draw which will take place on Monday morning.

Carlow, who played with the wind in the opening period, made a bright start as Ross Dunphy's third-minute point still had them ahead by the 10th minute.

However the first of McEnhill's 10 points drew Antrim level and he slotted three more over the next five minutes to put the Saffrons three up before a long-range placed ball from keeper Michael Byrne extended the home team's advantage.

Two quick scores from Darragh Foley cut Antrim's lead to two but the Saffrons moved 1-7 to 0-4 ahead in the 32nd minute as Aghagallon's version of Ruairi McCann diverted a long ball to the Carlow net.

A point at either end maintained Antrim's six-point advantage at the interval and further scores from McCann, the strong running Marc Jordan and McEnhill put them 1-11 to 0-6 ahead by the 40th minute.

Antrim were still eight up at 1-15 to 0-10 with 15 minutes left before a Conor Crowley score was followed by Bambrick's goal to cut the margin to only four with 11 minutes of normal time remaining.

The Saffrons appeared to be have put the game to bed as successive points from substitute Patrick Finnegan put them 1-18 to 1-12 ahead with two minutes of normal time remaining.

However, Carlow ensured a nervous finish for the Saffrons as three Foley points left only a kick of the ball between the sides with two of the five added minutes remaining, with Antrim down to 13 men after the black cardings of Eoghan McCabe and Ronan Boyle and the visitors also having had Jamie Clarke sin-binned.

As Carlow continued to press in the final 90 seconds of injury-time, they were infuriated by a decision by Sligo referee John Gilmartin to award an Antrim free after Darragh Curran appeared to have legally turned the ball over.

From the resultant free, Antrim worked the ball downfield before the move concluded with McEnhill's fisted point which closed the door on the visitors.