Ulster Club Hurling League

[maxpower]

I can't see the A final of this being played until both Dunloy and Loughgiel are finished with their championships, its a pity it over ran because it was a decent competition, and had the final been played prior to the Antrim championships begining then i'm sure there would have been plenty of bite

[slow corner back]

Ulster Club Hurling League Finals

- Saturday 15th September -
Extra Time if necessary in all games

Division 4 Final
St Endas (Antrim) v St Brigids (Antrim) at Casement Park (3.30pm)
Referee: Declan Magee (Down)

Division 1 Final
Dunloy (Antrim) v Loughgiel (Antrim) at Casement Park (5.00pm)
Referee: Gerard Devlin (Armagh)

Division 3 Final
Setanta (Donegal) v Tir na nOg (Antrim) at Celtic Park, Derry (3.30pm)
Referee: Eamon Hasson (Derry)

Division 2 Final
Slaughtneil (Derry) v Burt (Donegal) at Celtic Park, Derry (5.00pm)
Referee: Tommy McIntyre (Antrim)

Burt must be going well to get to the div 2 final. I may be wrong but it looks a lot stronger standard than I would normally associate with Donegal hurling. If Burt win the Donegal title do they compete in the junior or intermediate ulster championship?

[Bacon]

JUnior.

[Glensman]

Skull

Not sure where I stand on this to be honest but I am not sure how Dunloy pulling out of the competition (or not playing the final) stands with your praise of it earlier in the year. You have been able to blood new players, giving decent competitive games to them that otherwise they wouldn't have had. A big gripe of yours and everyone's has been games being postponed/not played/called off because of county commitments. Apart from a few minor things the Ulster league APPEARS to have run smoothly enough this year.

Now the finals have been fixed for early Sept for a while now...admittedly I think they were down for 8th Sept but there was always a chance (and arguably inevitable) that they would slide by a week.
Planning things when living in this county are always tough but not sure what sort of signal is sends out the final not being played.

All that said I understand that a further match against Loughgeil is probably the last thing either of you want/need (especially now you have the psychological edge).

[theskull1]

Skull

Not sure where I stand on this to be honest but I am not sure how Dunloy pulling out of the competition (or not playing the final) stands with your praise of it earlier in the year. You have been able to blood new players, giving decent competitive games to them that otherwise they wouldn't have had. A big gripe of yours and everyone's has been games being postponed/not played/called off because of county commitments. Apart from a few minor things the Ulster league APPEARS to have run smoothly enough this year.

Now the finals have been fixed for early Sept for a while now...admittedly I think they were down for 8th Sept but there was always a chance (and arguably inevitable) that they would slide by a week.
Planning things when living in this county are always tough but not sure what sort of signal is sends out the final not being played.

All that said I understand that a further match against Loughgeil is probably the last thing either of you want/need (especially now you have the psychological edge).

Who mentioned pulling out of the competition? Its not Dunloys fault that FQ fixed the finals for this date whilst knowing full well that they couldn't fulfill the fixture. As someone who is paid to look after this competition he should be doing a bit more to protect the integrity of it. Shoe horning this low key competition in (if were being honest but hopefully that  will change in time) at the business end of the season is a crazy thing for FQ to do. Dunloy have definitely benefited from the ulster league this year but championship is championship. FQ should have more sense and tried to get the clubs to agree a date in Oct under floodlights where the competition could have stood alone and got decent exposure
Don't really know why your jumping on my back glensman when your last line shows that in some way you can understand the predicament  . I'm sure loughgiel feel the exact same way about this final as Dunloy BTW

[Glensman]

Not really jumping on your back Skull to be honest and set myself out as saying I wasn't really sure where I stood on it.

I suppose it was the "FYI Dunloy will not be there" that made me respond!!
Maybe an "FYI Dunloy will be doing everything within their power to get the date moved and have good cause to do so as the Ulster League organisers knew we had a prior engagement that was booked a month ago" rather than a blanket statement that you wouldn't be there.
Had visions of the bodies lining out at Casement with no sign of Dunloy running out of the tunnel...alot of red diesel wasted for them there.

I completely agree that Championship is Championship. Its funny how an Ulster League final, which should arguably be something that your look forward to, becomes a burden in Championship time. It does for a few clubs.
But I also see the benefit that the Ulster League providing regular games during the early months of the year has had and see it as a good thing.

Anyhow, hope you get the best out of your prior engagement.

[theskull1]

Fair enough glens....lost in translation eh? Lets hope customs & excise don't follow the ulster league threads on the internet...as a boy once said it's easier to go off heroin 

[SuperHans]

OK, altho not perfect or yet completed this season, do you think the league is a good idea, did your clubs respond positively to it.Did youse enjoy playin teams u wouldnt normally play. i kno there are improvements needed but does everyone think it should be at least continued next season

[theskull1]

OK, altho not perfect or yet completed this season, do you think the league is a good idea, did your clubs respond positively to it.Did youse enjoy playin teams u wouldnt normally play. i kno there are improvements needed but does everyone think it should be at least continued next season

Yes on the proviso that it is played early in the season (April-July)
Yes
Ish...though for us there wasn't too many teams that we wouldn't play
Yes

On improvements .....Derry county board buying into the UHL and giving hurling some breathing space would be a huge help

[milltown row]

the game needs to be played before the start of the hurling leagues, i.e April. the Antrim hurling leagues need to be a two way league, ten teams.

football is popular because they play a two way league for all divisions they nearly have a game every week. most clubs now have decent pitches or two pitches gone are the days where games were called off because of the weather.

Ulster hurling could be started in mid feb through to April, county players never really played in it anyway so they wont be missed, it's better than turning up for training on a Sunday morning and it gives everybody match sharpness for the league ahead. playing during the season (proper) when boys are playing football league hurling, exams and holidays is daft.  i'm all for playing the ulster hurling league but it needs to be better fixtured in the year

[playwiththewind1st]

Well done to the Ulster Council......a 1 line message on your website giving 24 hours notice that some of the UHL finals were being postponed! A phone call to one of the participating clubs in particular might have been better. Next year, don't even bother if this is the way you're going to run your affairs.

[theskull1]

Whenever you consider that people are being paid to administrate this competition, it is quite unbelievable

[treborstemme]

Slaughtneil won Div 2 final
Setanta won Div 3 final

[Last Man]

Whenever you consider that people are being paid to administrate this competition, it is quite unbelievable

This is the point exactly, administered by paid officials, not volunteers as we are used to. These matches were called off at the last minute with only one club that I am aware of notified directly, the rest had to read it in the Irish News!!! Players who cancelled plans for a trip to France lost money for nothing.
It would seem that FQ only deems certain people worthy of his direct communication despite numerous attempts being made to contact him. What an ambassador for hurling? I will be encouraging our comittee to forward a letter of complaint to the UC. If he was a volunteer for this position then his actions would be regretable, as it stands they are unforgiveable

[slow corner back]

Slaughtneil won Div 2 final
Setanta won Div 3 final

Are Setanta from Donegal? Winning Div 3 allied to Burt getting to the Div2 final is pretty respectable for Donegal hurling