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Doku should have started instead of Grealish; so predictable, always cuts back inside and takes the pace off the attack. BTW this is the same Rudiger who couldn't get a place in Lampard's Chelsea team

Yes, it's the ref's fault....... zzzzzz

The Kilcoo county final episode really tarnished Lavery's reputation; much of the enthusiasm and support from last year has gone. Not all his fault, we don't have the players to compete.

The rules advisory committee is top-heavy with county players/managers. The real problem is at club level, esp in the lower divisions, 15 men behind the ball, endless hand passing around the 45, uncontested kick-outs

It's that time of year. The hurling leagues start on Monday night and it could be an interesting year across all divisions.

ACHL Div 1:
Prediction for winner- Liatroim
Prediction for relegation- Castlewellen
Team to watch- Warrenpoint

Liatroim-
Last year's winners. Were competitive in the Senior Championship, and controversially missed out on a Senior Final. Were well fit to run with the Ards clubs in the championship, so you'd assume they'll have enough for the Ards seconds. Heard conflicting things about who's stayed and who's gone, so will be interesting to see what way they line out. They'll feel they were hard done by last year, and will have a point to prove, so I expect them to hit the ground running.

Portaferry IIs-
If anyone's going to give Liatroim a game, I'd say it will be Portaferry. They're a club that's going well. Expecting to see them in the final. I don't really think anyone else in the division outside Liatroim, Ballycran, and Ballygalget will have enough to trouble them.

Ballycran IIs-
Similar sort of situation to Portaferry . Should have enough to be competitive, and wouldn't be surprised to see them in a league final. Think we'll see a drop in standard from what we've been used to seeing from Ballycran in recent years, but I'd be surprised if that impacts their seconds this year. Well fit to win the league.

Ballygalget IIs-
Looking like it could be a tough year for Ballygalget firsts, which has me wondering, will this have a knock on effect on the reserves? They've some great players coming up, and they'll not fear anybody in the division.

Warrenpoint-
Potential surprise package of the year. Don't think the Point are yet at a stage where they can realistically win Division One, but they'll give it a fair rattle.  Mad depth in their squad, and some great hurlers in the ranks. Best of the rest, in my opinion.

Newry Shamrocks-
Have a feeling Shamrocks may struggle this year. May be wrong, and they've plenty of county standard players, but they don't seem to be going anywhere near as well as they were 2 years ago. Should still hold their own against most teams. Clash between them and the Point will be interesting.

Clonduff-
Could be a very rough year for the Hilltown men. Obviously very tragic circumstances surrounding the club at the minute, and also hear they're a lot of injuries. Retirement of former Antrim hurler Aaron Graffin will be a big miss. I'd expect them to have enough to just about avoid relegation, and when firing on all cylinders will be fit to compete with Shamrocks and CPN, but looks like it will be tough going.

Castlewellen-
Had an amazing league campaign last year before the wheels came off towards the end. Only won one game in the championship. Will be interesting to see if they can regroup and take any scalps. At the minute though, I can't see it, and think they'll go down. This is the level they want to be at, and in the coming years, they should be a competitive Div One side, but hard to see it this year. Local derby between them and Liatroim will be interesting.


ACHL Div 2:
Prediction for Winner-Ballycran IIIs
Prediction for promotion- Kilclief
Team to watch- East Belfast

Ballycran IIIs-
Not really a lot to say when it comes to the thirds. Combination of young fellas breaking in and former senior players. The fact that there'll likely be a few seconds players lining out at some point makes me think Ballycran should have enough to win Div 2 for the second year in a row.

Kilclief-
Funny one. Avoided relegation, but requested to come down. Won the junior championship, but apparently have lost a lot of players since. Struggled against Castlewellen and Ballyvarley in the Championship, but showed what they were capable of when it mattered against East Belfast. Expecting them to go up. East Belfast and Ballyvarley will want another crack at them, so some tough games in store. Think they've enough to go back up, though.

Bredagh IIs-
Bredagh continue to go from strength to strength at underage. If their seconds team begins to bleed in these hurlers form underage, who knows what way they'll get on. Of course, a large part of senior hurling is the physicality of it. All the same, don't see Bredagh dropping too many games.

Portaferry IIIs-
See comments on Ballycran thirds. Only difference is they seemed to struggle far more for numbers last year. Of course, it wouldn't be a surprise if they won the league. Will have to wait and see.

East Belfast-
Could be a potential shock and gain promotion. Showed they can be competitive in the championship. Will be interesting to see how they build after the championship final. Could get wins against anyone, but hard to see them getting enough wins consistently to go up. A team going from strength to strength.

Ballyvarley-
Decent league last year, and in the end unlucky not to get promoted. Probably came the closest to catching Kilclief in the Championship. In saying that, didn't win a game in the Championship. Seem to be coming out of the dark period they've found themselves in over the past decade. Will be interesting to see if they can continue to rebuild, but wondering how they'll cope after their key player has left. Did they rely too much on him for scores? Hard to predict what way they'll get on this year.

Ballela-
No two ways about it. Disastrous year last year for Ballela. Expecting far more from them this season. Some big names back, and been going well in the Ulster League. They'll want to ensure they don't fall into a bad patch, and I'd be expecting them to compete with most teams.

Carryduff IIs-
Probably underperformed in the end last year. Not a bad side, and good stuff coming up from underage that may start to make an impact at senior level. Hard to know what sort of team will turn up in Division 2.

Antrim ACHL Div 1:

Portaferry-
Sitting top of the Antrim league after a big opening win against Ballygalget. Look like they're going very well and have the players to really be competitive. As shown in Ulster last year, they're well fit to run with the best of Antrim. Could really give Div 1 a good rattle.

Ballycran-
Drew with Loughguile last week. No small feat. May be taking a small step backwards from where they were, but still well fit to mix it with anyone in the division, in my opinion.

Ballygalget-
Could be a rough year for Ballygalget. Sitting bottom of the division after being well beat by Portaferry. Just don't think they have the numbers at the minute to challenge the top teams. Some great players, but just not enough of them right now. Some injuries and some lads away travelling, I hear. Wouldn't look too much into one game, but hard to see them being as competitive as previous years.

Antrim ACHL Div 2:

Carryduff-
Could be a team to watch in this division. Good win over Loughguile puts them right up near the top of the table. Carryduff really underperformed last year in the intermediate final, in my opinion. Couple real, real good players in the ranks. Don't think last year showed the level they are really at, and expect them to give Antrim Div 2 a real lash. Could be the team to watch come the championship.

Antrim ACHL Div 3:

Bredagh-
Fully expecting Bredagh to dominate Antrim Div 3. At the end of the day, Bredagh are a senior championship club, and they will be playing against junior level clubs in Div 3. Already showed what they're capable of by laying down a big marker against Lamh Dhearg. Hear they've a very strong squad at the moment, and playing at this level could be the perfect opportunity for them to begin to bleed players into their first panel and ensure they build up momentum and are ticking nicely before the Championship. Should be a good start to the year for the Belfast men.


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Bit of a long post there, but the general consensus to the hurling discussions on here last season was mostly incredibly positive, with a lot of people saying they enjoyed the insight into the hurling landscape in the county.

As such, thought it would be a good idea to give a quick preview before the season starts to try and keep those who are interested up to date, especially considering we only have the couple senior hurling teams in Down and it's not hard to give each a mention.

I know some people won't like it, and thought of starting a new thread for this, but at the end of the day this a thread for club hurling.

Best of luck to all the teams. Looking forward to some good contests. Best time of the year for a club hurler.

Thanks for this, always good to know what is happening on the hurling front

Passing through a village; a shop, a pub, few houses, then the mother and father of a sports centre

In Ireland we've experience of a populist making people scared, then selling fear. But it was more understandable; Paisley was handsome, articulate, informed.
Trump, in contrast, looks ridiculous (fake hair/tan), is vulgar, inarticulate, uninformed. His appeal is bewildering.
Netanyahu has really screwed everyone, exploiting Gaza as an excuse to stay in power; his 'Falklands moment.' Biden may lose the young vote, and the Arab-American vote, which may be enough in the swing states

His appeal isn't that bewildering though when you see the diet of fantastical, paranoid nonsense that the right wing media feeds it's audience. Trump is exactly like Paisley and meets the worldview nurtured by the right wing media, preaching apocalypse and doom and victimhood. You better rely on him, or else you'll be sold down the river in your own, rapidly changing country by the treacherous forces of evil.

I've said this before here, probably on this thread, but I've a cousin who lives in Florida and who is a mild Trumper. They came to NYC last year for Paddy's Day, but they were telling me that their friends were pleading with them not to go. The friends were genuinely terrified that my cousin wouldn't make it out of NYC alive, such was the barrage of nonsense circulating through the right wing media about the safety of NYC and other large "Democratic" cities. Never mind that crime rates are historically low, that NYC is among the safest large cities in the US, and that millions of New Yorkers go about their daily lives without incident. All lies and bullshit to those who consume right wing media and political discourse.

However, like much populist demagoguing throughout history, it is very effective. Trump is the nominee, and there is a very real chance, given the small number of deciding states and the inbuilt advantage of the electoral college for Republicans in the current political system, that he will win the general election. He is successfully dragging out the court cases and will probably not be held accountable before the election, and even if he is, his supporters either won't hear about it or they won't care (he's been convicted, by a jury, of sexual assault, in case you don't know). It's all a liberal conspiracy to them. Nor do they care that Trump ordered the GOP to kill the legislation last month that would have given them almost everything they ever asked for in terms of border security (Trump wanted the preserve the border concerns as a political football rather than actually address the problem).

All that said, those bigoted, braindead die-hards do not constitute a large enough segment of the voters to put him back in office. Which is where you come to Biden. The man is simply seen by most people, unfairly or not, as too old for the job, even among those who think he has done a really good job on the whole. His obstinate insistence on running again is one of the primary reasons Trump could easily win this. Had he said "f**k it, I did my part" and handed it over for a real Dem primary, we could be looking at a fresh middle-aged nominee coming out of tough contest, someone who would have real advantages over the also-old, widely despised and feared, probable future felon Trump. Life isn't always fair, but Biden should be doing the right thing here. If not, he could go down in infamy as the man who facilitated the return of the orange travesty and all that means for the US and the world.

This is a very fair summary J70; bookies still have it more or less evens (a Dem vs GOP winner), so we can but hope

In Ireland we've experience of a populist making people scared, then selling fear. But it was more understandable; Paisley was handsome, articulate, informed.
Trump, in contrast, looks ridiculous (fake hair/tan), is vulgar, inarticulate, uninformed. His appeal is bewildering.
Netanyahu has really screwed everyone, exploiting Gaza as an excuse to stay in power; his 'Falklands moment.' Biden may lose the young vote, and the Arab-American vote, which may be enough in the swing states

Tipp were 20-1 ON favs!!

Tyrone 4 pts behind in injury time and still sitting in defence, letting Kerry pass the ball around and wind down the clock; why do teams keep doing this?

Really good game so far

Why was the goal disallowed?

Sure, blame the ref......

When football was, as it should be, a hobby, dual players would have been more feasible. Now that even club teams are expected to live like Spartans and train like the SAS, it's no longer possible.
The pressure on playing fields of an extra code would also be too much for most clubs.

This time last year I was full of optimism, but after Kilcoo's shameful behaviour before the county final, really don't care anymore. The manager must bear some responsibility