GAA ULSTER SFC Demands on GAA players are much greater than soccer

FITZPATRICK ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CODES

- PADDY TIERNEY

IN A parallel universe, Andy McEntee's gameplan for tomorrow's Ulster SFC meeting with All-Ireland champions Armagh would be fairly simple.

Work the ball out to Paddy McBride and get the St John's ace to launch long, diagonal balls into Antrim's two-man inside forward line of Matthew Fitzpatrick and Ruairi McCann.

In an ideal world, the game would also be played at a redeveloped Casement Park.

Reality bites hard for the Saffrons these days. They had to fight the Ulster Council for the right to host their quarter-final at Corrigan Park.

Antrim Gaels can dare to dream that Casement Park will be restored to its former glory one day, but Matthew Fitzpatrick won't grace the turf at his native St John's this weekend.

Last Saturday, he was a mile and a half away getting his hands on the Gibson Cup as part of Linfield's title-winning squad at Windsor Park.

He has also been shortlisted for the NI Premiership Player of the Year and signed a new two-year deal with the Blues in January.

The prospects of him ever playing for the Saffrons again appear slim, but he won't ever close the door fully.

"I would never say never because I don't know how my football career will go and how long I'll play for," said Fitzpatrick, who last played for Antrim in their 2019 Qualifier loss to Kildare in Corrigan.

"In my head, I wanna play until I'm 40!