Antrim Football Thread

[imtommygunn]

6 or 8 maybe a stretch but yes definitely a lot more than current. I can't see creggan or cargin dropping out of top four. The question is with st galls who will make the fourth.

Underage definitely a good stepping stone but a lot of underage success has failed to come through to senior in the last while be that city or country. Hopefully that will change.

Hopefully that will be with clubs stepping up as st galls grow older rather than the standard just dropping! It's bad that st galls are still dominant and we have to talk like this but they are so dominant we can't really talk about anyone else winning anything with them about.

[bannside]

Yea it would be hard to see St Galls dropping out of the top 4 but we could have said the same about the great Johnnies team that dominated the seventies and eighties.

The problem with St Galls is that they will need to find at least 10 replacements in the next few years.  That won't be hard but will they be "like for like". Who is going to step up and be the next Sean Kelly or Kieran Mc Gort etc etc?

[country bumpkin]

Bannside as I said I do look forward to meeting the Portglenone team who will be up there making a bid for a senior title in the near future, but I fear you are a bit away from such lofty heights.....................of course u took an under-21 title last year and were good value for that but remember Cargin and Creggan divided the previous six between them, and do you consider this as a certain recipe for future senior success ....hope does indeed spring eternal, but i can remember a most excellent Casements side which included such as Kevin Madden, Tony Convery, Martin Mc Carry, the Dohertys etc, etc and a senior crown eluded...........I do realise that a paltry four senior titles brought home to Toome in the past 20 years could and should have been more, but add 16 division one league titles, as many  victorious O' Cahan Cup campaigns, and toss in a couple of Intermediate and junior titles with two minor and three under-21s never mind the whole host of reserve titles gathered in the same fruitful period and ponder a while..............Lotta snipers taking aim at the men in green but with the notable exception of one how many can walk in their company?

[Milltown Row2]

People are only interested in the present. Cargin in final already and both Creggan and ourselves looking to get there. May best team win

[bannside]

True Milltown the future will look after itself. There is a lot at stake in the senior c'ship this particular year. St Galls are desperate to add another Ulster title with this vintage crop. Cargin are obsessed about proving they are thereabouts with arguably the best Antrim club team of all time. Creggan have put a lot of investment into their current squad in the belief that there could be a title in them now or at some stage in the very near future.

Only one will win though and for the rest it will be back to the drawing board.

[culchie11]

Cant see creggan having enough to beat st galls this weekend, they will play defensive & if you do that you are only invited st galls onto you & they know how to retain posession & wait on the right pass better than anyone.

i think the ifc final will be best game of the year, just like division 2 football it is highly competitive & never much between the 2 teams.
i think in all it has the makings of going to a replay!!
moneyglass dont seem to know when they have been beaten & portglenone are missing a few. with last years final prob in the back of their minds, nerves could prove vital for portglenone.
i hope the ref lets it flow & we get a great game for the nuetrals.

in jfc final its another tight one, st mals lost out last year to a good davitts team. st comgalls have improved well in the last few years & i would like to see them winning this one, again it wont be one sided & will be a tight dogged affair, with st comgalls winning by minimum.

[DearyMe]

I think this saturday will tell the story of how the championship is to shape up!  Lets be honest, its all about if, and how Galls can dismantle Creggan!  Everyone will be in a much better place on Saturday night to really comment about how much longer 'the present' and 'the future' will last, never mind the final!

[country bumpkin]

The present and the future deary me.................that gall's and creggan............you jesting?

[The Worker]

What's everyone's thoughts on Sunday's games?

The intermediate final should be the best for years with 2 teams very evenly matched.

Portglenone will be slight favourites (any odds out yet?) , however heard they lost a few key men due to a recent challenge game. Brady's experience for moneyglass may prove crucial.

Would like to see st comgalls win the junior, would be a massive boost to the gaa community in the town.

[bannside]

Paddy Power has PG1 favorites at 4/6. Maybe so before we lost three players in recent weeks that would all have definitely started - but its a 50/50 game now. One got a broken jawbone  in a challenge game. One pulled a hamstring and is doubtful and the third picked up a badly swollen ankle picked up at training. Hopefully we will still have enough but no one here is counting their chickens just yet. Moneyglass a tough team to beat at any time in this grade.

I cant see Creggan getting within three or four points of St Galls - despite a big recent push and expertise coaching.  While Creggan can make it difficult defensively, I just dont think they have enough up front to seriously trouble a very well drilled St Galls defence. In a few years Creggan will have great match winning scoring forwards that every team needs, if they can successfully bring through Conor and Kevin Small plus Liam Quinn - three real gooduns!

While I have a soft spot for St Comgalls (worked in Antrim town for many years) and would like to see them win, you have to credit St Malachys too for some good work they have done. A couple of years ago I came across them when I managed our reserves, and they were really trying hard to get their act together. Whoever wins the junior will be worthy winners.

[country bumpkin]

Casement's v M'glass will be intense and close in what is as close to a derby affair as you can get.............control of the middle may well prove crucial and although the Ports will most certainly miss Mark Mc Aleese in and around that zone they may just shade it.....1/2 points.
Creggan will stay with the Galls for a while as they are likely to adopt an ultra defensive mode.....as they did against Cargin last year........but this formation may well play into the hands of the MR side and a repeat of last year's final (at Creggan) looks probable.
St Comgall's will win the junior.............

[bloodybreakball]

How many players reared in other clubs will start the final for cargin bumpkin?

[country bumpkin]

Seems those silly Cargin boys are missing something bloodybreak ball..............are clubs rearing players? Sure I had a look around the club at Toome this morning and such facilities for rearing players are not to be seen.

[bloodybreakball]

Its just to know where we all stand before the final, as you say it would be handy for everybody else to know before we attempt to "walk in your company".
I really enjoyed last year in the final when you 's went to a two man full forward line for the last twenty minutes, a creggan man, a Randalstown man, trying to win the senior championship for cargin. That's fairly damning.
All that bleating about st. Galls having too many outsiders about ten years ago is a very very long time ago.

[country bumpkin]

Just do not know exactly where u are coming from breakball................but i can guess from which club............sure if you are a realist (leaving aside ur obvious petty jealousy)..........wouldn't u just love to walk in our company.