McBride 'taking positives' despite Armagh defeat

BBC News

12-04-2025

Antrim captain Patrick McBride said there are "positives" from the Saffrons' 1-34 to 1-23 Ulster Championship defeat against All-Ireland champions Armagh.McBride, who was named man of the match, kicked four-two pointers from play to help Antrim to a 0-14 to 0-13 half-time lead but the Orchard County responded with a strong second half showing to progress to the semi-finals.Despite the defeat, McBride was proud of Antrim's efforts on and off the pitch, especially given the pressure on them after they threatened to boycott the game if it was not played at Corrigan Park."The match was meant to be here in the first place so that was the first battle we won," he told BBC Sport NI after the game."It is common sense it should have been here and I know the result didn't go our way, but the best thing about the match being here was we were driving up this morning, it is the first time in a long time I have seen Antrim tops about the Andytown Road, so it is things like that make this very effective. "We are not here just to take part and we are disappointed as we wanted to win the game, but there are positives too - and when I see kids in Antrim jerseys, it's a big plus."
'We showed we belong here'
McBride believes Armagh's experience of playing regularly in such high-pressured games in Division One, the Ulster Championship and in the All-Ireland series ultimately helped them over the line.Antrim, meanwhile, have not won an Ulster Championship game in over a decade and were recently relegated to Division Four after a disappointing league campaign."They have been in those big games and it's also exposure to a high level, kickouts under pressure, we've been playing against Division Three teams, but they've been playing against teams like Dublin," he explained."They won an All-Ireland last year so it is a team that got relegated to Division Four against the All-Ireland winners, there are positives, we showed we belong here, it is just we need to go up the divisions so we can start to win matches like this."McBride says the Saffrons will now aim to build on their positive first half and win the Tailteann Cup and then gain promotion back to Division Three next season."We were saying at half-time don't be surprised that we are winning this game, we know we are good enough, it's just about putting it together over 70 minutes," he added."We haven't won a game in the Ulster Championship for a long time, but to keep coming back and trying like this requires mental toughness. Until we start winning games regularly, we won't do it [progress in an Ulster Championship tie]. "We have a Tailteann Cup to win here, and we will try to win that, but our biggest thing is promotion next year."