Ulster Hurling Final

[No1]

  Anybody interested?!

  Good luck to the Down lads although they will need to be 100% better than they were against Derry in the replay, awful stuff.

  Hopefully Paddy Hughes will be starting, Aaron Dynes ain't mobile enough to play at centre half.  (He was out of Casement before me last Saturday so he may well have taken the hump anyway)!  Andy Savage has been our best player all year and I hope he gets some much needed support.

  Good luck especially to big Finty and Zelda!

  Anyone know how much it is in?  Surely there will be a discount as we'll have to endure two Antrim "football" teams.  

[Big Bob]

I heard someone is painting a wall on sunday, down owenvargh beside casement. Might be a better option to watch the paint dry instead of watching the Football

[Lecale2]

Big Johnston was in great form in the 2 games with Derry. If Down can get the ball to him he can do damage. Finty Conway doesn't look out of place at all. Good to see him back with a bit of hunger for the game.
What's the craic with Martin Coulter? He was in the stand at the first match. I thought he was going to return to the panel for the championship?

[the colonel]

down will be happy to see small fellas playin in the forwards for antrim. will try to be physical to get them out of the game early i reckon

[Bacon]

Antrim: R McGarry, M Kettle, M McCambridge, S Delargy (c), M Molloy, J Campbell, C Herron, B Herron, K McKeegan, P McGill, N McManus, M Herron, S McCrory, J McIntosh, P Shields.

Any word of the Down team? There's a couple of forwards I haven't heard off? Where are McCrory & Shields from?

[Blacksheep]

LAST TEN CHAMPIONSHIP CLASHES
2006 - Down 1-23 Antrim 1-7*
2006 - Antrim 2-23 Down 0-12
2005 - Antrim 2-22 Down 1-18
2004 - Antrim 3-14 Down 0-18 (replay)
2004 - Antrim 1-15 Down 1-15
2003 - Antrim 0-21 Down 2-12
2002 - Antrim 3-16 Down 1-18
2001 - Down 2-14 Antrim 1-10
1997 - Down 3-14 Antrim 0-19
1996 - Antrim 1-20 Down 2-12

Prediction: Antrim by 10.

[johnneycool]

Big Johnston was in great form in the 2 games with Derry. If Down can get the ball to him he can do damage. Finty Conway doesn't look out of place at all. Good to see him back with a bit of hunger for the game.
What's the craic with Martin Coulter? He was in the stand at the first match. I thought he was going to return to the panel for the championship?

Dingy needs yet another knee operation and is out for the season.

From a Down viewpoint I'm glad to see McIntosh in on Murph as in previous years he did most of his damage when in the corner on much smaller men. Murph or even Finty will give him a bit more ash than he likes.

The midfield area will be interesting as I can see McKeegan playing the deeper role, defending in front of his half backs. I'd like to see McGourty pick him up as he is a good striker of the ball and can take long range points when the opportunity presents itself. Andy Savage will cover every blade and not found wanting at any point.
My main worry is our half forwards where big Emmet and Ciaran Courtney are likely to be. Big Ciaran will give graham a few options for puck outs but will need to offload the ball into the forwards a lot quicker than he normally does. Big Emmet Trainor is either a hit or a miss with the miss count a lot higher than the hits. Here's hoping he gets one of his hits this sunday. Zelda is too awkward of a hurler for me and now that his speed and fitness is on the wane he looks very ordinary but you never know. The slip inn takings might be down on saturday night if he's in the right frame of mind.
Neither set of forwards looks like setting the world alight but the Antrim bench hold all the aces here. I would expect to see Paddy Richmond sprung fairly quickly if Down put up any resistance at all.

I wouldn't be a shock if Down win but the odds are stacked against them. Going up in hope more than expectation.

[Lecale2]

I've no idea what Antrim are like this year but Down were poor in both games against Derry. The bookies have Down at 9/2 and that's probably about right. Hopefully those games with Derry will have done them some good and they can take the chances and cut out the silly errors. As JC says I'll travel over more in hope.

[Glensman]

Bacon -  Shields from Dunloy, McCrory from St Johns.

Antrim lightweight up front...hopefully can scrape through.

[Syd]

I think too much is being made of Antrims lightweight attack, it s not as if they are coming up against Diurmid O Sullivan or Sean Og, Downs defence would not be the most physically imposing. At the end of the day Shields or Mc Crory will probably be marking Liam Clarke !

[Big Bob]

Shields may be a little light, but the casement field will suit him down to the ground. He is an intelligent hurler and will relish the challenge of finding the space to pop the ball over the bar. As for Simon McCrory, Lightweight? I don't think so. He has legs on him that a russian weight lifter would be proud of. Strength, speed and skill. He has it all, but I just don't think he has showed his true potential yet. He needs to come out of his shell.

[johnneycool]

Has McCrory played much with St Johns seniors?

If he has then he hasn't stood out much.

[Syd]

Has McCrory played much with St Johns seniors?

If he has then he hasn't stood out much.

We played them this year in league and our fella that was marking him could not believe he was even part of Antrim panel never mind starting. I dont think he is up to it, may prove me wrong though.

[Bacon]

Any word of the Down team? They leave it very late.

[Syd]

Antrim are 5/6 -7 pts with Eastwoods on Sunday, pretty good bet me thinks......