With regular first team opportunities limited at the Inchicore side, Flood was imminently loaned out for the majority of the 2005 season to First Division Athlone Town in order to gain valuable experience.
[2] After spending effectively two seasons on loan from St. Patrick's Athletic, Anto departed the Saints in December 2006 to sign for First Division Dundalk.
[3] Things took a sharp turn for the worse for Flood's Dundalk career in May 2007 when his contract was terminated by the club due to a "breach of discipline".
[4] As a free agent, Flood remained out of the game for two months until the next transfer window in July 2007 when he was snapped up by First Division side, Shelbourne, in order to boost their attacking options.
After Shelbourne failed to achieve promotion with a second-place finish in 2009, Flood parted ways with the club after three seasons where he scored 38 goals in 83 competitive appearances.
[8] On 8 July 2010, Flood was offered a contract at St Mirren on trial with a view to signing along with teammate Stephen O'Donnell but turned it down to join Örebro SK.
On 13 January, Flood signed a contract with Southend United until the end of the season, having impressed manager Paul Sturrock in a trial game earlier in the month.