Antrim Football Thread

[SambaSaffron]

Improved Cargin display at the weekend, good to see Justy back. Still a long way away from a performance that will cause St Galls any problems though.

[country bumpkin]

So why a Saturday Brendan? Can it be because the little guys aren't very keen on the football?

[country bumpkin]

Cargin will concede if St Gall's manage to get past Creggan.........Sure they don't want to halt the onward march to 8  in a row...........

[bannside]

Didn't look too keen on halting it last year either. Saw the finishing line and took stage fright. That's the bit that disappointed me because Cargin do have good players all over the pitch. Should have bagged a championship with this group and I wouldn't still rule it out. I stuck my neck out last year and predicted a win at a SW venue and was badly let down when they stumbled with the finishing line in sight.

[Jeepers Creepers]

From a selfish point of view as a spectator, I love Saturday evening matches. A few pints after without worrying about work the next day.

[Points a Good Score]

From a selfish point of view as a spectator, I love Saturday evening matches. A few pints after without worrying about work the next day.

+1

Id hazard a guess that players thoughts would be similar for the same reason

[brendanbelfast]

So why a Saturday Brendan? Can it be because the little guys aren't very keen on the football?

I have no idea why, but I think its a good time for a final.

[country bumpkin]

Yep Cargin may well have stumbled last year and indeed they may well stumble again Bannside, but they are back again in another final..........wonder if you were amongst the many who wrote them off more than a few yesrs ago when they were beaten again in a senior final? Cargin are the only threat to the Gall's dominance unless ur vision is a lot better than mine. They do remain the only Country bases side to have claimed a senior football title in a couple of generations, despite opposition both on and off the field........Of course people are keen to pass negative comments, but write them  off at your peril.

[bannside]

Couple of points to make in reply to that CB.
Firstly you need to trawl over posts made on this board several years before your arrival. I was one of many who admired the football Cargin played under JC who won the double before youse shafted him. Less macho stuff and good quality disciplined football.

Secondly I advocated several times that Casement Pk was worth three or four points start to St Galls as they knew that pitch inside out. That's why I was keen to see you get over the line last year at Ahoghill - but you tripped up at the finish while going close.

Thirdly, I have counted ten of your players who have been regular county seniors within the last three years. So if you can't win or go close to a title with players of that calibre then you should really be trying to answer that question yourselves. Could you win it this year? Yes of course you can but you will need a big big performance and that is possible.

Finally while I see Cargin always able to produce quality players and top teams in the county due to a fine tradition there, I think Portglenone will give everyone their fill of it in the next decade and be there or thereabouts with yourselves in the not too distant future. I'll let the other clubs speak for themselves!

[country bumpkin]

Hope u are right about ur boys Bannside.........but a long long road ahead.......seen more than a few pretenders come and go over the past 40 or 50 years and in that period only Cargin hace ascended the senior winners platform, despite all the obstacles placed in the way......macho football.....that was a myth perpetuated by those who looked to halt the 'country gulpins'.........remember 2000......Antrim on the rise and Cargin had a senior title taken away by those who looked to call a halt to the county's progress......They sure did that and gave a leg up to St Galls in the processs....The two best teams in the county were chucked out of the 2001 championship, St Galls seized the opportunity snd the rest is history.

[bannside]

To be honest CB I am totally ashamed at the stats provided by SW teams during the 40 or 50 years you talk of.

In most of the other Ulster counties its the country teams who are dominating, and football is very strong in some rural parishes. In Antrim its the city men who claim the majority of football championships. And while Cargin do "keep them honest" the rest of the SW clubs have not come up to the mark.

That may change and every club should be able to encourage, develop and provide 15-20 decent players aged 18-30 something. Fot Gods sake thats just over one quality player per year. With all the so called underage development, Cul Camps to foster the really young ones, coaching in schools, county development squads, etc etc thats not too much to ask.

And I dont agree that anyone gave St Galls a "leg up". They won four U-21 titles in a row and went on to become one of the best teams in the country. They took a leap of faith in this group and brought them through as a unit - and there was pain in that for other so called Gallsmen. But their Mickey Culbert led future policy paid large dividends in time.

[Glensman]

From a selfish point of view as a spectator, I love Saturday evening matches. A few pints after without worrying about work the next day.

+1
+1

Id hazard a guess that players thoughts would be similar for the same reason

[imtommygunn]

Bannside you reckon you guys will make a step up... What are your thoughts on creggan? They've had quite a few good underage teams so hopefully they can step up too.

While i would agree that the south west could / should have done better the st galls team were an exceptional bunch. If you consider that before them there was barely an antrim team fit to compete at all in ulster they have really increased the standard by a big margin. 

I expect in the next four or five years south west teams will have a much bigger say.

[Milltown Row2]

But will the standards have dropped by then? Or will those teams get up to same standard and be able to compete in Europe? Oops I mean Ulster?

As for us getting a leg up CB we did manage to get to the Ulster final that year. What youse and St Pauls did was only damaging your own wellbeing not ours. When you get to the Ulster final this year Ill be there supporting you

[bannside]

I know Portglenone are still a work in progress but can point to decent young crop coming through. They have a few big matches coming up which will indicate whether or not they are ready for the step up, so it's best to let the players do the talking on the pitch. But I like the steady progress curve we seem to be on.

Creggan a terrific club ITG who are a model to others how a club structure should be. You would never be there but good quality coaching going on whether it's hurling or football.

They were making big noises a few years ago with good minor and under twenty one sides and it's hard to say if this will be good enough to win titles at senior. This week may give us a clue with additional coaching expertise brought in to work alongside the excellent Paul Mc Flynn. But I can't see Creggan out of top four in Antrim Football in my lifetime to be honest. Unless hurling takes off in its place as it's getting momentum there all the time. Plus they need to nurture the Small brothers who are real talents.

I definitely think too that Antrim Football as a whole will open up greatly after this St Galls cycle is finished. In that event I do see SW reams winning at least 50% of county titles in the next generation, and about 6 or 8 clubs in even enough contention for a period.