Antrim Hurling

[btdtgtt]

Having not been at the game take this with a pinch of salt but so far there's been three themes on McManus - gave away frees, dives, switching positions.
Heard them all before.
Now let me say I think Neil is a quality hurler - an a great PR man - but wouldn't we be better selecting him in a position and having him hurl like everyone else? This shifting positions game to game is nonsense - give him a simple  job and let him to do well. The 14 around him will also benefit.

The idea of an annual shoot out with offaly & Laois is mundane again. Every season is a groundhog day. Championship will be the same round-robins with the same teams - then a loss once we play a real contender.

Why would the future games be moved from ballycastle?
The weather is the weather - was the pitch poor?
Where would games move to?

[hurlingstick]

We did give them several of their scores which was disappointing. We don't distribute the ball too well. Quick small forwards (Clarkie, PJ, Daniel) yet we lumped high ball in time after time. I thought our half back line did rightly. I thought Simon and woody were really competitive. Paul Shiels is a class act.

[hurlingstick]

Game had to be stopped on 7 occasions as the sliothar sank into the soil. Shocking!!

[north_antrim_hound]

IMO team lineout completely wrong today. neil playing as sweeper in front of half backs when there was no need to keep him back. we never won a puckout allday. ours or theirs. neil should have played as a conventional midfielder. ciaran johnston was as ever all heart but sorry he is not a midfielder. again only my opinion but that was as weak a half back line i have seen play for antrim in a long while. i know you can only work with the personnel you have but for me you build your team around a solid strong half back line. graffin, neil mc auley & neil mc manus are our strongest half back line.also the most frustrating thing for me is that 7 or 8 of limericks points today were down to our mistakes. handpassing the ball to opponents when hassled, short puck outs to a half back on a heavy pitch like that & when there is a ruck of players why do we never come up with the ball?   difference was limericks composure when on the ball & our lack of it. bad decision making all day & that is un nerving. surely having had the time KR has had, composure should become almost instinct? second half limerick played a spare man around the middle with the wind cos they knew we werent getting our puck outs beyond that. what did we do in the first half with the wind? left neil mc auley free in our full back line for too long. big games like these wont be won conservatively. we need to be more pro active & encourage players to build confidence by taking more responsibility themselves.

Mc manus wasn't only sweeping, he was roaming between the forties the whole match
Sure when he was down it was on our half forward line
M. Manus drifted to their puck out range in the first half to
His going off through injury high lighted his worth as we didn't score afterwards
Imm only mentioning this as your implying where he was positioned he wasn't in the game
I would like to see his pocession  count compared to other players bar shorty
We Made mistakes for sure that lead to Limerick scores but they would be lower than their free count due to fowling

[auld stock]

hurlingstick. sorry but for me i thought simon mc crory had an absolute nightmare. his man no 12 ran riot all day. im not slating simon as a player but i think he doesnt have enough guile or craft for wing back. again its easy to analyase from the hill but thats how i saw it

[hurlingstick]

hurlingstick. sorry but for me i thought simon mc crory had an absolute nightmare. his man no 12 ran riot all day. im not slating simon as a player but i think he doesnt have enough guile or craft for wing back. again its easy to analyase from the hill but thats how i saw it

Well that's what it's all about - differences of opinion. I was nearside of the pitch and thought he battled gallantly in the first half. Then again I don't overly rate McManus when most would say he is brilliant.

[auld stock]

north antrim hound.im not implying neil wasnt in the game cos of where he was positioned. im implying exactly what you said that he should be played in a position & kept there & personally i think that position should be wing back

[north_antrim_hound]

north antrim hound.im not implying Neil wasn't in the game cos of where he was positioned. I'm implying exactly what you said that he should be played in a position & kept there & personally i think that position should be wing back

The mc manus conundrum is a intresting one and should be discussed
The reality is this last five six years and before that we have been fielding teams with 4 Maybe 6 sub standard players at top level
Some of our better players have to assume several roles to redress the balance in different areas
I have witnessed this on many occasions
I will be delighted when players like him and shorty can just concentrate on there respective zones
Because that would suggest we have a full complement of top county players
Anyway the lads tried hard today but there is still a lot to learn in terms of decision making and discipline.

[imtommygunn]

Mcmanus is a half back. He plays a lot in forwards because cushendall have too many good defenders and not enough good forwards. He's the most versatile.

We made nowhere near what we should have of gary o'kane for years by playing him out of position and we're doing the same here.

[Bonamargy]

Sounds right.... At the risk of repeating myself, not scoring in the last 25 minutes was criminal but great to see us competitive against one of the top teams in the country for long periods. Thankfully the Laois and Ofally games are at home as they are the important ones. After today whether or not they will be at Ballycastle is another thing.

Why would they not be at Ballycastle? The whole of Ireland suffered wind and rain today and the last couple of days. The club did well to get the game played at all. It is February, I don't think you will get a pitch anywhere in this county in better shape today.

[Bonamargy]

Game had to be stopped on 7 occasions as the sliothar sank into the soil. Shocking!!

I refer to my reply above!

[hurlingstick]

Pitch was very poor and I would imagine the distance Limerick travelled was the factor most considered when passing inspection. Watch the rest of the division 1 highlights and compare. I think you're letting heart rule head and I can respect you sticking up for your club. But that pitch was not good enough. You've seen the stat I've provided. Nobody can say that was the best surface in the county today unless they drove round all the pitches. KR was not impressed at all!!

[Bonamargy]

Pitch was very poor and I would imagine the distance Limerick travelled was the factor most considered when passing inspection. Watch the rest of the division 1 highlights and compare. I think you're letting heart rule head and I can respect you sticking up for your club. But that pitch was not good enough. You've seen the stat I've provided. Nobody can say that was the best surface in the county today unless they drove round all the pitches. KR was not impressed at all!!

I am not disputing that the pitch was soft after all the rain that we had over the preceding three days. It was either play the game or cancel it. With Casement closed is there really anywhere else to play National league hurling matches? I did watch league Sunday and I can say that there were no hard bouncy surfaces on display. Anthony Daly commented on the playing surface being soft and lacking grass in the Galway v Tipp game, which is to be expected at this time of year.

I think your expectation of a playing surface at this time of the year is unrealistic. Pairc MacUilin was voted the Antrim and Ulster ground of the year in 2012. I think that says it all really

[glensgael]

The reality is quiet simple. Antrim have three new pitches at Dunsilly and cannot use them because they have no welfare facilities yet. Last season Antrin increased their team expenditure by £100k due to managers wanting larger panels, I'm no architect but surely £100k could build four changing rooms and a meeting room rather than the ludicrous £1.2m Antrim say they need even if it's to get Dunsilly up and running.. Until such times as Antrim and Ulster council extract the digit and get the Casement disaster sorted Antrim have to go to club grounds to play their matches. Antrim do not contribute towards the clubs hosting the county games or days they train on them which in my opinion is a disgrace. I'm sure the groundmen in Ballycastle did not like to see their pitches cut up ( warm up done on the second pitch) but at the end of the day both teams had to play on it.

If Kevin Ryan is trying to blame a pitch he needs a reality check, the reason Antrim are competing and then falling away in the last quarter of matches is down to poor decision making from the sideline.

[hurlingstick]

Pitch was very poor and I would imagine the distance Limerick travelled was the factor most considered when passing inspection. Watch the rest of the division 1 highlights and compare. I think you're letting heart rule head and I can respect you sticking up for your club. But that pitch was not good enough. You've seen the stat I've provided. Nobody can say that was the best surface in the county today unless they drove round all the pitches. KR was not impressed at all!!

I am not disputing that the pitch was soft after all the rain that we had over the preceding three days. It was either play the game or cancel it. With Casement closed is there really anywhere else to play National league hurling matches? I did watch league Sunday and I can say that there were no hard bouncy surfaces on display. Anthony Daly commented on the playing surface being soft and lacking grass in the Galway v Tipp game, which is to be expected at this time of year.

I think your expectation of a playing surface at this time of the year is unrealistic. Pairc MacUilin was voted the Antrim and Ulster ground of the year in 2012. I think that says it all really

I think it is the best ground in the county (along with Creggan). But it was simply not good enough today. The players deserve better for the intense work they are putting in. I've never been to a hurling match where a game had to be stopped 7 times as the ball got stuck in the surface.

Glensgael? KR is a fine manager. What bad decisions did he make with the players at his disposal?