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Liatroim have every right to feel aggrieved in the way that they were disrespected by the County Board and the media pundits who had them written off before the match. The CB appointed an outside referee for the other semi final thinking that it would be the tougher of the two semis. But was it? In the interests of the integrity of the competition that Ardstick is so worried about both semis should have had outside referees appointed. It also raises the question are there no other referees in Down capable of officiating at this level that don't have skin in the game? If not why not? Ask any Ballycran person involved with the team did they welcome yesterdays refereeing appointment, I think the number that did you could fit them all into a phone box! The Ards teams are not whiter than white in regards to transfers and outsiders playing for them and should be playing for their "own" club - McAllister, Sheehan & Prenter. You could make a case for Prenter all right with RGU not having a hurling team. So how do some of the Ballycran players feel about the two outsiders taking their positions, you can't just pin that scenario on just happening in Liatroim, it is not unique to there. I sense a bit of fear in the Ards that there is a threat to their dominance of the SHC so is it a case of wanting those players to return to where they come from and so dilute the threat. As JC has pointed out on many occasions there will be no underage trophy residing in the Ards for another year but I have no doubt that will change sometime soon. 

Those Cran players live and are settled in the area, so that's a weak argument. Would love to know the address of the Murphy's in Liatroim and does McCusker not live beside Ballela pitch.

Look all I'm saying is instead of seeking glory hunters we need to keep working on developing players within our clubs instead of looking for a quick fix solution to winning. Taking players away to the detriment of their own clubs Lagos a real lack of class and morals.

With regards the reffing I'm sure if you talked to Ballycran supporters they would tell you all the frees that were missed for them, that's the nature of the game, ref will make mistakes just like the players on the field.

Might also be an idea to cut the Senior Championship to 5 teams, play each other once, top goes into final 2v3 in semi just to keep the quality and standard higher but that's for another day.

Good luck to Liatroim in their finals a win against Rostrevor would be an almighty victory for the parish.

Really newbie ?  bit of back tracking here

Let's have the discussion surely Oldie, however there's a massive different between a legitimate transfer and a self serving transfer. Surely your not suggesting Sheenan should still be taking a 90 mile round trip to play for Shamrocks. Fair play to him for staying with them up to last year.

How did the Murphy's ever get a transfer?? Because their dad manages them??

CB need to have a watertight system to stop clubs exploiting the system. Otherwise let's just have open season and let clubs pick and chose who gets to play for them.

this oldie thinks there's a lot of bitterness there newbie?? - sad to see. welcome to down discussion and hopefully future posts will be positive - should there be anymore 

Liatroim have every right to feel aggrieved in the way that they were disrespected by the County Board and the media pundits who had them written off before the match. The CB appointed an outside referee for the other semi final thinking that it would be the tougher of the two semis. But was it? In the interests of the integrity of the competition that Ardstick is so worried about both semis should have had outside referees appointed. It also raises the question are there no other referees in Down capable of officiating at this level that don't have skin in the game? If not why not? Ask any Ballycran person involved with the team did they welcome yesterdays refereeing appointment, I think the number that did you could fit them all into a phone box! The Ards teams are not whiter than white in regards to transfers and outsiders playing for them and should be playing for their "own" club - McAllister, Sheehan & Prenter. You could make a case for Prenter all right with RGU not having a hurling team. So how do some of the Ballycran players feel about the two outsiders taking their positions, you can't just pin that scenario on just happening in Liatroim, it is not unique to there. I sense a bit of fear in the Ards that there is a threat to their dominance of the SHC so is it a case of wanting those players to return to where they come from and so dilute the threat. As JC has pointed out on many occasions there will be no underage trophy residing in the Ards for another year but I have no doubt that will change sometime soon. 

Those Cran players live and are settled in the area, so that's a weak argument. Would love to know the address of the Murphy's in Liatroim and does McCusker not live beside Ballela pitch.

Look all I'm saying is instead of seeking glory hunters we need to keep working on developing players within our clubs instead of looking for a quick fix solution to winning. Taking players away to the detriment of their own clubs Lagos a real lack of class and morals.

With regards the reffing I'm sure if you talked to Ballycran supporters they would tell you all the frees that were missed for them, that's the nature of the game, ref will make mistakes just like the players on the field.

Might also be an idea to cut the Senior Championship to 5 teams, play each other once, top goes into final 2v3 in semi just to keep the quality and standard higher but that's for another day.

Good luck to Liatroim in their finals a win against Rostrevor would be an almighty victory for the parish.

Really newbie ?  bit of back tracking here

Despite emotions after a big game, I was shocked to see a club like Liatroim blame a ref on social media. I would have thought by now that some of their members would have it deleted. Who would be a ref?

I watched the same ref many times over the last few years and unfortunately he is always the same  whether that be kids feile matches or intermediate in Antrim and on this occasion down senior. fair play to him as who would be a ref but im not one bit surprised to hear this.

That's shambolic if true.

https://www.irishnews.com/sport/hurlingandcamogie/2022/10/14/news/antrim_u20_management_team_step_down-2861748/

How many players are there on the u20 panel?  Does several make a big impact or are they all starters for the U20?  Not familiar with the younger ones now - but What about the rest of the u17-u20s-  that committed to the group?  Disappointing situation all round -  everyone has lost out

Hard to judge how good Loughgiel are as Rossa are a shadow of the team from the past couple of years. Losing Stephen and Michael was a killer blow to their preparations then losing James Connolly so early in the game was the final nail in the coffin. They simply haven't the squad to replace them. Their subs made no impact.

And yet, all that aside, Loughgiel looked very sharp and some of their passages of play had to be admired.

St John's will be concerned with their performance. If they play like that  the next day they are in for a mauling.

The Loughgiel v Cushendall semi is shaping up to be thrilling.

Good performance from the officials today too. They let the play go as much as possible and were consistent. Kevin Parke shaping up to be a damn good referee.

Totally agree that Rossa don't have the squad they did from last season and have not been the team they were last year.  The subs bench on Sunday appeared to be very limited and what was worse one of their young players went on as a sub and was then subbed to put on a player who appeared to be injured not too long after.  I only hope the young fella was injured as that is very demoralising for anyone in front of a large crowd in Dunsilly.   but take nothing away from the Shamrocks who took their chance and played some lovely hurling and came out worthy winners. 

The St Johns/B'Castle match was a closer match and it could have gone either way but i dont think that either will trouble the Dall or Dunloy. Hopefully both semi finals will be entertaining.

The standard last night in the hurling championship from both teams was poor.   CC going off for B'castle so early on was a bad blow but the general opinion in Dunsilly, albeit from the neutrals, was that it was a very poor display -

Tragic news on hearing Casey's untimely death last night.. have ref'd him few times and was looking forward to the fixture they played after their all Ireland win when they up against Sarsfields at the bear pit.

Both teams were missing players, but speaking to the Dungannon manager they had few that were away the weekend before at a stag weekend (probably for this wedding) but they were in good form from the win at Croke park, was keen to congratulate the players for not only their win but managing to put up with CJ  ..

Casey was the standout player that night and got the usual close attention you get from the Paddies when you're half decent. Tagged on a goal and a rake of points that night..

Plenty potential to grow into an even better player and drive Tyrone and his club on, dark times for his family friends and his club

Casey was the standout player wherever he was -  what a loss to club and county -  massive void in so many lives and terrible times ahead for his poor parents and sisters - taken way too soon

Headed to cushendall last night for the match - as a nuetural was disappointed.  Wasn't a great match to be honest and the whistle blowing referee didn't let the game flow at all.  Especially in the first half.   The match never got going in my opinion. But Dall deserved the win.  What was more obvious was if the Dall don't have McManus it would be a different story. He played well and took some lovely scores, but his running towards the ref and arguing when he didn't agree with him wasn't nice to see.  I know the ref wasn't great but still.  Iv seen this a few times with him this year. Think With his profile he should know better. iMO

Anyone at The Town match up in Belfast.  So much for their being a puck of a ball.  Were the town that bad or Rossa that good? I read Rossa had a few missing? Were BC the same??

That's a real sad thought 5-10 years.  I'll not see it unfortunately😩. Would love to think we could bring someone in whether it be inside or outside of Antrim that could give us a bit of hope. The county board should get their act together now and see if there is anyone interested in making a difference to Antrim hurling - give plenty of time to try and find someone not just appointing the same people Over again.

Ok I'll bite, what could have made the difference with what we had? Wh were better and even with the best manager and all players available we'd have still lost, obviously you know different, so expand on you post please

My interpretation of what old timer is suggesting,  is should the Antrim county board put their resources into recruiting a high profile Davy Fitz, Anthony Daly type manager. Similar to the wexford county boards approach when they hired Davy Fitz and Banty for their Hurlers and footballers.

It could be argued that the wexford Hurlers were on a slippery slope similar to Offaly at present and Davy has steadied the ship and made them competitive without really challenging at the business end of the championship.

The footballers were coming from div 4 and Banty was probably as high profile a manager they were capable of recruiting but he made no impact at all.

Antrims geographical location makes it even harder to recruit the elite coaches. Laois were able to get Eddie Brennan this year and it has worked out well, but after his stint with Kilkenny u21s, I personally thought it was a gamble, but I've been proved wrong.

Imo getting a high profile candidate is a short term fix, and if there are stronger structures in place at underage level this should eventually feed through to the seniors, similar to what happened in Clare and Limerick in recent years.

I watched the game on gaanow and the facilities in Dunloy look top class.

The manager doesn't have to be high profile at all just someone that would inject new life/ideas into the team and try to bring about more than one or two wins.   High profile would be a bonus!! And yes let's face it who wants to travel the length of Ireland to go training twice/three times a week unless it's for a large sum of money.   I know our capabilities and I know certainly we aren't world beaters but trying to reinvent the wheel with the same tools (no pun intended) just isn't working.  Yesterday was like Groundhog Day.    A win here or there just isn't enough for a proud County like Antrim. Being a half decent hurler most certainly does not make you a good manager/coach unfortunately that's been proven.  I wish I knew what the answer was but I do know that sidewards or backward moves aren't it.

That's a real sad thought 5-10 years.  I'll not see it unfortunately😩. Would love to think we could bring someone in whether it be inside or outside of Antrim that could give us a bit of hope. The county board should get their act together now and see if there is anyone interested in making a difference to Antrim hurling - give plenty of time to try and find someone not just appointing the same people Over again.

WM had done their homework on us but did we do any homework on them?  It certainly wasn't only Crossan that was talking about beating Offaly it was a lot of people! Including those in our own camp. Yes beating Offaly was a great victory as is any win in Antrim jersey but to be honest if we had have got beaten today but played reasonably well it would have been a bit easier to take.  Clarke against Offaly was like a superstar and today he was non existent but he most certainly wasn't the only one. It tells it's own story when you look at the scorers.  Mcmanus free taking made his performance look ok but other than that he too didn't perform today.  Playing at home we should have starred. WM were quicker and sharper all over the pitch and that's not about talent. IMO keeping Peden and Gary on was never really going bring about much change - other than who called the shots. They both should have walked away too.  I had hoped different but today just proved me right, I'm sorry to say.  Fair play to them for giving their time and effort and to everyone that does but it was a sideward step IMO

Unfortunately just not good enough today.  Were we complacent after the last match??  Not sure why Duffin taken off first although it could really have been any of the backs or forwards - especially in 1st half.  The frees kept us in the game. Really disappointing and poor performance all round.  We were on the back of a win but it didn't look like that at all.

Bit like cushendall match against Rossa.  The Dall gave away so many frees especially in first half and second wasnt too much better until Rossa went down a man.  Something doesn't seem Right with the Dall this year.  Given Rossa had so many starters missing the Dall were lucky

Was enjoyable match but Wouldn't have expected anything else.  Taking players from other clubs and hoping they gel really only works for Pepp.    imo