Sean Quigley recieving a yellow card for a foul.
Fermanagh 3-13
Antrim 2-18
There was to be a frantic final ten minutes to what was a rollercoaster Ulster championship quarter final at Brewster Park with Fermanagh coming within a whisker of stealing what would have been an astonishing victory.
A shot from Ryan McCluskey was cleared off the Antrim goal line by defender Kevin O’Boyle and a hugely relieved visiting side had scrambled over the winning line.
Let it be stated however from the outset that had Fermanagh won this game it would have been larceny of the first order.
For this was a game which had seen Antrim clearly the better side and they held the lead, at times a very commanding one, from the second minute onward.
So authoritative had Antrim been at various stages over the seventy minutes plus that it was remarkable that they were to have such a nerve jangling finish to the game.
Having dictated thirty minutes of the opening half, Antrim had careered out into a twelve point lead leaving a ragged, disjointed Fermanagh far in their slipstream.
It had been a simply wretched Fermanagh performance, the worst that they have served up for many a day.
With the half heading into the final minutes Fermanagh were heading for an ignominious defeat but somehow they managed to resurrect themselves.
In a gloriously spirited revival they shook off their indifference and roared back with a tide of scores, a goal and four points that ate considerably into the deficit.
The goal had been crafted by an inviting centre from Eoin Donnelly, tailor made for a full forward and Sean Quigley supplied the expert finishing touch.
Manager Pete McGrath who a few minutes earlier must have been wondering just how he could address his disheartened troops over the interval, had been given a rousing wake up call.
Fermanagh from a side who were in disarray were now back in contention and when they resumed the second half with a point from Paul McCusker a full scale recovery was on the cards.
But disaster was to strike almost immediately.
Antrim as they were to do on a regular basis all through, raided with alacrity and precision and the ever so sharp Brian Neeson rapped over an excellent point.
Worse was to follow with a Tommy McElroy defensive pass intercepted and Antrim ghosted in for their second goal, Kevin Niblock supplying the all too simple final touch.
It was a score which essentially won the game. A killer blow which knocked Fermanagh totally askew and Antrim had weathered the storm.
But incredibly the storm clouds were to re appear for the leaders as they faltered badly over the finishing straight.
Yet much of the remainder of the game there was to be no sense that Fermanagh would be able to rescue the situation.
True they picked off sporadic points but an assured Antrim side were playing with precision and great purpose and they were rattling over the scores at will.
A clutch of vibrant contributions for Antrim, Brian Neeson and substitute Ryan Murray two particularly bright stars in a slick side with Kevin Niblock pulling the strings.
The points tally for Antrim steadily mounted as the half ground on to the final fifteen minutes, the game to all appearances done and dusted.
There was just no way that Fermanagh could possibly salvage something from a deeply disappointing performance.
And yet the Erne side were to come within inches of doing just that in what became a frenzied finale.
Antrim had cantered eleven points ahead as the game edged into the final ten.
A Fermanagh point from a Sean Quigley free was greeted with scarcely a murmur and when Quigley added a second it was a similarly muted response.
As far as everyone was concerned these were consolation scores, scores which would put a taste of respectability on the scoreboard.
But there was a startling change when Antrim coughed up a goal. Again an intercept created the opening and Barry Owens smashed in his opportunity.
This was a score which galvanised Fermanagh and they were to put in a thoroughly heartwarming final drive that had previously assured Antrim desperately hanging on.
Brian Neeson did have a point that briefly lifted the siege but with the clock ticking down it was now a rejuvenated Fermanagh that was in control.
Fermanagh dredged up every scrap of resolution they had in them and incredibly they were to make it a razor edged finish. Pandemonium in the Antrim defence as they had to deal with a frenzied Fermanagh charge.
It was now a case of all out assault and Marty O’Brien popped up to pop a point to keep the pot boiling.
Fermanagh now had the scent of a sensational recovery and they were at full throttle when they snatched a third goal again O’Brien the marksman.
The lead down to just two and how a missed free a few minutes earlier was going to be crucial.
A goal required in the increasing mayhem of a packed Antrim defence and a goal chance cropped up in one last ditch surge.
Ryan McCluskey presented with the opening, his shot perhaps too measured.
It beat a clutch of defenders but corner back Kevin O’Boyle was on the job to fly kick away from the goal line.
The final whistle sounded. It had all become as wafer thin as that.