1st Round:
Donegal 1-21 Tyrone 0-6
Fermanagh 0-13 Cavan 1-9
Armagh 1-22 Monaghan 1-9 :)
2nd Round:
London 1-23 Fermanagh 0-7
Armagh 3-24 Donegal 2-12 :)
1/4 Finals:
Derry 4-10 London 3-12
Down Millions Armagh 0-14 :(
1/2 Final:
Derry V Down - 14 June, 3.30pm, Casement
Final:
Antrim V Derry/ Down - 28 June, 3.30pm, TBC
Armagh v Donegal should be a good one. Down are in disarray so I'd like to see either of these teams give them some trouble.
Any location and date/time for the Armagh match?
Here's a link to photo's of Armagh V Monaghan, though looking at the response to this thread there would appear to be little or no interest building for Ulster Hurling just yet
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16144312@N07/?saved=1
If link not work just copy and paste in address bar
Quote from: Tony Baloney on May 09, 2009, 08:44:36 PM
Armagh v Donegal should be a good one. Down are in disarray so I'd like to see either of these teams give them some trouble.
Any location and date/time for the Armagh match?
From the little I have seen of Donegal club teams they have some big men who are good in the air, lacking a little stickwork however. Would fancy Armagh to continue their upward trend and see them off by 4 or 5 points. Having said that I am not an officiando on either side.
Quote from: emainmacha on May 11, 2009, 01:18:37 PM
Here's a link to photo's of Armagh V Monaghan, though looking at the response to this thread there would appear to be little or no interest building for Ulster Hurling just yet
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16144312@N07/?saved=1
If link not work just copy and paste in address bar
Maybe these games should be paired with the football to draw a crowd and expose more people too Hurling
Quote from: Gnevin on May 11, 2009, 10:49:15 PM
Quote from: emainmacha on May 11, 2009, 01:18:37 PM
Here's a link to photo's of Armagh V Monaghan, though looking at the response to this thread there would appear to be little or no interest building for Ulster Hurling just yet
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16144312@N07/?saved=1
If link not work just copy and paste in address bar
Maybe these games should be paired with the football to draw a crowd and expose more people too Hurling
Nah it wouldn't really work cuz the format of the two championships is so different and the teams involved rarely match up. It would also mean bumping the minor footballers out of the way, which not too many would be in favour of.
Though, there may be scope for pairing up Rackard and Meagher cup games with football qualifiers (I think these games would be on around the same time).
If Armagh beat Donegal to set up a game with Down it would be nice if a bit of effort went into advertising it locally. Armagh have an outside chance of causing an upset and, considering its two neighbouring counties, it would have the potential to draw a bit of a crowd (maybe 2 or 3 thousand, which would be very good) if they play up the rivalry thing. They'd need to play is somewhere reasonably central though, not up in Belfast or out in Ards or Keady.
Surely Newry would be the obvious choice for that game, dont both counties claim part of Newry?
Quote from: slow corner back on May 11, 2009, 11:11:51 PM
Surely Newry would be the obvious choice for that game, dont both counties claim part of Newry?
Newry would be grand, as close to half way between the two hurling areas of both counties as possible. Playing it in Belfast would also probably make it handy enough to get to from Ards and Keady/ Middletown, but none of the football fraternity in South Armagh or South Down, who might have a passing interest in it, would bother heading up there. If it was in Newry and there was a bit of promotion in some of the local papers in the week before, it could attract a decent crowd I think.
I see you have Antrim in the ulster final...i didnt realise the ulster championship was in this format. So Antrim compete in both Leinster and Ulster?? Is there a connaught championship that Galway will be competing in?? ???
How do the other counties in ulster feel about antrim being granted free passage into the ulster final whilst they have to go through the qtr finals etc?? ???
How would they fit this championship in if Antrim ever become succesful on the all - ireland stage...for example if they got to quarter final / semi final stage the ulster championship would have to stay on hold all summer long waiting for one team.
The Ulster championship final is scheduled for the week before Antrim play Dublin so fitting in the fixtures is not a problem, Antrim winning a few matches in the McCarthy cup might be!
Is Keady and Middletown the only two areas in Armagh that would be interested in travelling to an Armagh hurling match?
Quote from: Red Hurley on May 13, 2009, 10:11:58 AM
Is Keady and Middletown the only two areas in Armagh that would be interested in travelling to an Armagh hurling match?
Well the majority of the players are from these two clubs, so its logical to assume that the majority of the support come from these areas too.
Not expecting big things from Fermanagh against a very strong London team this weekend. Hopefully we can keep it to a sub 15 point defeat, but I wouldnt be optimstic about that!
Armagh minors beat Donegal 3-23 to 0-3 in Maghera today.
London 1-23 0-7 Fermanagh
Cork native Martin Finn bagged 1-8 as London advanced to the semi-finals of the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship after a comfortable win at Ruislip.
Finn netted London's goal early in the second half after the Exiles had romped to a 0-10 to 0-3 half-time advantage.
Fermanagh held an early lead with Ryan Bogue on target but their hopes faded after failing to score in the 22 minutes up to the break.
Finn's goal stretched the gap as London surged clear in the second half.
It was a heavy defeat but I don't think anything else was on the cards to be honest. Given that there are only two hurling clubs in the county, the Fermanagh boys can be very proud of their achievements in this year's Ulster Championship.
The London Derry game will be at .................................?
Casement..
Down beat Derry in very poor conditions at Casement to set up a final with Antrim.
Any word on the teams for Sunday's final?
Both Antrim and Down have bigger fish to fry in the coming weeks but I know the Down lads would love Ulster medals.
Antrim: R McGarry; K McGourty, N McGarry, A Graffin; S Delargy, C Donnelly, N McAuley; J Campbell, K McKeegan; B Herron, N McManus, S McNaughton; E McCloskey, P Richmond, J Scullion.
Down: TBC
This was on BBC on Friday.
Hope Down can do it.
I agree hatchetfield, great 2nd half, tension was unreal! A pity the result wasn't the one I wanted but Down should be proud of their performance you could see their hunger in the 2nd half. A bit of discipline would need to be worked on before the Christy Ring final, a lot of yellow was shown!!
Quote from: hatchetfield on June 28, 2009, 05:45:48 PM
Great game of hurling - just what the Ulster Championship needed
ya think??
first and some of the second half both teams couldn't pick the ball up. and the striking by antrim in the second half was terrible. the game became enjoyable during the second half because more space was available due to tiredness and some nice scores were taken. 3-21 and 4-16 is some scoring though.
strange seeing Jingo McKillen and Tosh cheering the Down goals
What is the difference in Jingo cheering and Humpy and Tosh. Do you think they will have been training them all winter and then want Antrim to win?
Quote from: hatchetfield on June 28, 2009, 07:38:27 PM
I'm talking about the tension and excitment. Yes there was lots of missed dips and some poor striking but the intensity was good and you watch any munster championship match and you'll see lots of missed dips which is all down to pressure. Fair play to Down though for their effort, could have stolen it.
From a performance point of view, Antrim were rough and very good in spells. We stopped getting the ball into Joey Scullion who was on fire at the beginning along with Shane McNaughton. Full back line which is normally very strong were very suspect. Lots of good ball winning demonstrated and either Antrim have went a wee bit backwards or Down have upped their game - bit of both i think but either way there was lots and lots of kids today who will remember an exciting game of hurling in the sun in Casement.
Have to say, i can understand Jingo's position but i have to say to see Tosh and Humpy showing that much passion v Antrim was a bit unforgivable in my opinion.
Grow up. Neither of them owe Antrim a thing. They're there doing a job with Down and are bound to form an allegiance with the players they've worked closely with. If the Down boys suspected they had divided loyalties they'd have them back up the road.
I left Casement very disappointed yesterday because Down had a real chance to win their first USHC in years. Fair play to Antrim they didn't panic and kept taking the points.
The Down lads can take a lot of positives from the match. They have come on well under Jingo and hopefully can lift the Christy Ring in a couple of weeks.
Was the sending off at the end for 2 yellows? I just saw the red card.
Quote from: hatchetfield on June 29, 2009, 02:58:47 AM
Grow up??? Come on hey boy, we're all allowed opinions.
Anyone who has been reading my posts will know that i'm fair and that i'm a fan of Tosh's in particular. Of course they will form an allegiance with the players. Minder i think think there's a difference between between wanting Down to win and that line that i think they all crossed at the match. There was something there that was a bit more than just wanting Down to win - a certain 'i'd love to get one over S&W' maybe?? On top of that, Down were letting the stick go something shocking and each time they were wailing, Humpy was going nuts encouraging it. I was standing beside him.
I think the difference between Jingo and the two lads is that Jingo is manager - simple. He left Antrim with a large amount of dignity against what IMO was an injustice and has been doing a good job with Down. I know the man well and i know he was really hurt by what happened after what he's given to Antrim - regardless of what people think about him. The other two lads i believe had that aforementioned incentive to come in that wasn't about just improving Downs fortunes!!
But lads, relax, don't tell me to grow up because i've expressed an opinion on a forum please. Is that not what its there for? Oh jesus 3am - note to self, don't fall asleep watching the Sunday Game on the sofa in future, it'll take me an hour to go over again here!! :-\
Apologies Hatchetfield - "wise up" instead then ;)
Quote from: hatchetfield on June 29, 2009, 10:09:59 AM
Quote from: Lecale2 on June 29, 2009, 09:29:13 AM
Was the sending off at the end for 2 yellows? I just saw the red card.
Yea from what i saw it was
Two yellows. He was booked the first time just below us so I knew the line was the only option for the ref on the second offence.
Disappointing for Down alright - if they don't come back strong over the next few years they will regret not winning it yesterday.
Have to agree with Tony hatchet. On principle I don't like boys from other counties taking county teams (especially near rivals) and would much rather it was home grown management in all counties. But if they're going to take the team I'd expect nothing less than what they are giving to down.
You are forgetting that EACH of them (IMO) have good reason to want to stick it to S&W and/or the Antrim Exectutive. They may of course not be motivated by that but I'd be fairly sure it played some part in their mindset. They almost pulled it off as well. Down have improved under their stewardship, but they were in fairness at a fairly low level before they took the reigns.
Antrim
You look out at the team and go through 1-15 and think...jesus thats not a bad side. But the performance levels ebb and flow so much throughout that we are never able to dominate games for any length of time. There is potential there as I think there are alot of fine hurlers on the team, but it just lacks a little bit of leadership.
Quote from: hatchetfield on June 29, 2009, 11:13:27 AM
Fair enough lads. As is said before (or at least i think i did), if the motivation is to develop Down then fair play to them. I don't think i could ever coach another club side never mind another county. But in each of their cases, it was about sticking it to S&W and the County board - not a good motivating factor i think and i suppose i'm coming as a passionate Antrim fan who saw Antrim men going nuts because Down men were pulling like hatchet men on other Antrim men and it made my blood boil. But your points are all valid. ;)
Regarding the team, i think you hit the nail on the head Skull - buckets of potential and ability. We play well in spurts but we just don't seem able to play for the full 70 at that intensity. Down looked very dangerous. Regarding S&W, i think they were too impatient. They should have stayed one more year with minors (their progress was very evident), then took the under 21s for a few years and then they would have had 6 years with a particular group of players and would have naturally been the choice for the senior job.
As for the minors, jesus,i thought they were awful. Very lackadaisical, little or no team play, unconvincing regardless of what the county website says. We'd about 5 lads who seemed to refuse to give the right ball every time! Wanted to do it alone and ended up running into trouble. Was impressed with Conor McCann from Creggan and to be totally honest, that was about it. Very ordinary Antrim minor side i thought.
I have no doubt if Down had won yesterday it would have been all the sweeter for the Antrim boys on Jingo's backroom - with good reason too imo. However I doubt very much they'd drive from N. Antrim down the peninsula on a regular basis for that reason alone.
Something I noticed is that none of the Antrim boys seemed to show much leadership and try to get a grip of the situation when Down were all over them at the start of the second half.
There is a difference in showing leadership and playing for yourself (and the IN) which is what McM is engaged in far too often for my liking.
A game i didnt see myself lads, but just looking at the scoreline, could there be an argument made to bring Down into the Leinster Championship aswell, seeing the closeness of the two sides?? Also by the looks of the results London seem to be showing very strongly this year?
Down will be in leinster if they beat Carlow in 2 weeks awfuly. As for London with the way the economy has gone they were always going to improve.
Yep was a second yellow alright
As a Carlowman from what i've heard about yesterday and from what i saw on Sunday Game, Down are worrying me ahead of CR final.
The team really seems to have improved from the side they looked like in the League. Putting up that kind of score is a big worry, as we are very likely to concede soft goals.
After Westmeath going out this year, the feeling in Carlow was we had this years in the bag even before semi final v Kerry.
But only drawing at home to Kerry with such a lacklustre display woke us up i think. And in replay we hit 6-10 in Tralee to hammer them.
Hopefully yesterdays performance by Down will make the Carlow guys realise what they are up against in final. It will be a different side to the one we bet in the league.
The final i reckon will be very high scoring, and its such a massive prize at the end of it...it should be great occasion even if the 5 or 6 thousand of us will be lost in Croker!!
Can't understand why the final is not somewhere like Navan which is half way and a crowd that size would make an atmosphere.
Quote from: stevecw on June 30, 2009, 01:01:42 AM
As a Carlowman from what i've heard about yesterday and from what i saw on Sunday Game, Down are worrying me ahead of CR final.
The team really seems to have improved from the side they looked like in the League. Putting up that kind of score is a big worry, as we are very likely to concede soft goals.
After Westmeath going out this year, the feeling in Carlow was we had this years in the bag even before semi final v Kerry.
But only drawing at home to Kerry with such a lacklustre display woke us up i think. And in replay we hit 6-10 in Tralee to hammer them.
Hopefully yesterdays performance by Down will make the Carlow guys realise what they are up against in final. It will be a different side to the one we bet in the league.
The final i reckon will be very high scoring, and its such a massive prize at the end of it...it should be great occasion even if the 5 or 6 thousand of us will be lost in Croker!!
Can't understand why the final is not somewhere like Navan which is half way and a crowd that size would make an atmosphere.
Steve people have different takes on it. Some like yourself will say using HQ is daft for all the interest it generates but others will argue why shouldn't the lesser counties get their run out on the big stage in what is still a national final. In general a lot of these boys would never have been able to play in Croke Park before these competitions were started so I think it's great for them, their families, clubs and counties to get a run out.
Quote from: theskull1 on June 29, 2009, 10:56:11 AM
Have to agree with Tony hatchet. On principle I don't like boys from other counties taking county teams (especially near rivals) and would much rather it was home grown management in all counties. But if they're going to take the team I'd expect nothing less than what they are giving to down.
You are forgetting that EACH of them (IMO) have good reason to want to stick it to S&W and/or the Antrim Exectutive. They may of course not be motivated by that but I'd be fairly sure it played some part in their mindset. They almost pulled it off as well. Down have improved under their stewardship, but they were in fairness at a fairly low level before they took the reigns.
Antrim
You look out at the team and go through 1-15 and think...jesus thats not a bad side. But the performance levels ebb and flow so much throughout that we are never able to dominate games for any length of time. There is potential there as I think there are alot of fine hurlers on the team, but it just lacks a little bit of leadership.
i remember back in the day when Sean McGuinness managed Down and beat Antrim in '92, a certain Mr Crossey, then part of Jim Nelson's backroom staff berated McGuinness as some sort of traitor for managing a team against his own county, i suppose he wasn't to know how he'd be doing the same some 10 years later, he who pays the piper and all that. ;)
As for the game on sunday a certain basic lack of positional sense let us down and if you are going to play a novice like Conor O'Prey in the forwards, then you really need to give him guidance on where to be especially during the Antrim puck outs where he left far too much space out in front of his half back line where we got exposed a bit and I think one of Scullions goals came from that space even if he did round Benny Ennis a bit easily. Graham's puck outs were far too central and although he did try and find Simon Wilson with a few they were still far too central. Aerially only Magic and Courtney were able to win their own ball which has always been a weakness in Down and hence why Brendan McGourty's absence as a ball winner in the forwards is a huge loss.
Aside from that we did create enough chances to win the game with Stevie Clarke hitting a point blank shot right at Ryan McGarry who pulled off a great save in the first half. The crowded area's made it harder for Dule to get going and I can understand why Jingo felt the need to bring Magic out to win ball as he was being starved on the edge fo the square but by doing so we lost that bit of potency as Magic was getting the better of Neil McGarry who resorted to the pulling and dragging from the start which is fair enough but to go down when given a taste of your own medicine like something out of platoon was a bit pathetic. Murph was very lucky to stay on the park for his swing at one of the Herrons after an Antrim goal probably bourne out of the frustration that he should have done better leading up to it. Other than that and Finty Conway's pull on Paddy Richmond (which was rightly yellow carded) I didn't see the wild pulling and wailing that some of you seen but then those red and black tinted glasses are a bit darker than the saffron ones.
Down were very jittery in the early exchanges, missing lifts (or dips), poor handling etc and Ruairi McGrattan got off to a bad start and he is the stereotypical confidence hurler, once things start going wrong for him, he finds it really hard to concentrate and get his game back on track and he didn't hurl anywhere near his best on Sunday. Otherwise I felt the defence did OK, could have done better with some of the goals, but overall fine. Wee andy goes through a power of work but in the tight confines hasn't the power to burst through a tackle, six pack or not but he certainly does a good job in there. Young Woods was a bit at sea but he's very young and inexperienced at this level and the game will stand by him in the future, ditto Conor O'Prey who's a good hurler and fine athelite who plays all his club hurling in defence, got a point from play but his positional sense was lacking, Forwardwise we still rely on Magic and Dule and thankfully Magic is beginning to learn how to use that physique a bit better especially against sneakey, spoiler defenders, he took dogs abuse against Derry and didn't hurl worth a f**k because of it. Stevie needs to start weighing in with more scores as he's got the ability, just needs to assert himself more on the game IMO, Simon is a defender and very one sided to try and convert at this stage of his career, so he's always going to struggle to get a shot away although he is failry accurate when he does. James Coyle is very young too but needs to work on turning as he needs a fair old circumference to get back towards the goal when in posession.
For my tuppence worth on Antrim, I think the team ethos isn't there and the win on sunday was based on individuals rather than good team play which is all well and good when you are (on paper) better than your opposite number but against the better teams like Dublin everyone needs to be disciplined to play for the team and not just the IN journalists who don't know their arse from their elbows. I've never liked the Antrim running game especially defenders over doing it, take your 4 steps, get past the man and hit the spaces in front of the forwards. The longer a defender takes to clear the ball, the more likely they are to get robbed and the more time they give the opposition defence to get into position to close the forwards down. Antrim certainly have the forwards to get scores from play and anytime on Sunday an early ball or diagonal ball into space was used a score came off it but when Down asserted a bit of pressure that went to pot with a lot of aimless hurling and only silly free's from Down and a bit of calmness from Paddy Richmond to slot over the scores allowed Antrim to get the two point victory. A victory against Laois is far from certain but Antrim should have enough but then a big challenge awaits and I'm not so sure that the wins against Down and potentially Laois will be learnt from by the players or management.
Skull,
Home advantage wins it again for Antrim ;D
Good post Johnny,
Agreed about most, the same old arguement about Casement though, bit like croke park for the dubs, Casement ticks all the boxes, great pitch, central location (between Down and Antrim) good spectator arrangements and easy to get in and out of, no other pitch can claim that, and i would still think that if it was on the Ravenhill Road and the down teams played on it more often that the Antrim teams
Fact also is that the Antrim team are reportedly to have only been given Casement once this year for training, no much of an advantage
Watching the KK Galway last week it was refreshing to see so many youngsters allowed onto the pitch at half time, i remember as well as a kid jumping the wire at our big games whether they be in Dunloy, Cushendall or Loughgiel. It just wouldn't happen at casement where subs aren't even allowed a poc about at half time. remember as well last year going up for the Ulster league final and we went to go out for a poc about before getting changed but where told the pitch wouldn't be available to 20 mins before throw in. WTF, at that stage we're going to be getting changed.
Really how much damage would a poc about do to a pitch in the middle of August, fort knox would have easier access than casement at times
I really is a joke the way that casement ground keepers seem to have such a stranglehold on the use of that pitch.
Quote from: theskull1 on July 01, 2009, 11:52:56 AM
I really is a joke the way that casement ground keepers seem to have such a stranglehold on the use of that pitch.
If only a handfull of games were played on a pitch a year, I could have it in tip top condition. Surely that's a waste of a facility to the Belfast clubs (including Bredagh ;) ) , or is there insurance issues? ;D
question: If Derry were to get to an Ulster final, would Ballinscreen not be a good venue considering the hoards that travel down from the glens?
played in ballinascreen a few years ago and the pitch was a disaster,
being honest i think it would add a bit of a novelty factor if the game was switched about abit but it would be to an inferior pitch
Quote from: maxpower on July 01, 2009, 01:02:20 PM
played in ballinascreen a few years ago and the pitch was a disaster,
being honest i think it would add a bit of a novelty factor if the game was switched about abit but it would be to an inferior pitch
The Screen and Newry can be a bit wet in the winter but they'd be fine at the height of summer for an ulster final just for the novelty of a game out of Casement which lacks atmosphere even with a decent crowd in it.
Anyone notice how poor the PA system was on sunday? A nice big mejaa centre but pish sound on the terrace side.
When Dunloy played them it was in June if I remember right and it was as like a cobbled road.
U21 Semi Finals
Derry 3-15 3-9 Down
Armagh 5-25 1-11 Antrim
Holy f**K!! What happened in Newry? Was anyone there?
http://ulster.gaa.ie/results/ (http://ulster.gaa.ie/results/)
Other way about. Chill out
If I seen that as well I'd have been worried too....but a comfortable enough win.
:D :D :D
The ref must have got the scores the wrong way round. That would have been some upset!
Quote from: Guillem2 on July 22, 2009, 10:04:03 PM
U21 Semi Finals
Derry 3-15 3-9 Down
Armagh 5-25 1-11 Antrim
Holy f**K!! What happened in Newry? Was anyone there?
http://ulster.gaa.ie/results/ (http://ulster.gaa.ie/results/)
And there's me thinking the Antrim U-21's don't like playing out of Casement either!! ;)
As for Down, we're really poor at minor and U-21 for the next few years with nothing of note coming through so hopefully Micky wing can work in conjunction with the clubs to stop the rot.
Screen pitch is terrible, i just dont understand why its the county pitch. Antrim teams dont like comin out of antrim, only time we ever got one out was for a mageean final, and havent since one back since. Think our own pitch at Kevin Lynch park would be the best venue, but unfortunatley we dont have any changing rooms yet.....
Quote from: Owenbeg on July 24, 2009, 04:06:17 PM
Screen pitch is terrible, i just dont understand why its the county pitch. Antrim teams dont like comin out of antrim, only time we ever got one out was for a mageean final, and havent since one back since. Think our own pitch at Kevin Lynch park would be the best venue, but unfortunatley we dont have any changing rooms yet.....
So can you explain to me why there is a double header there this weekend?
The pitch is great but the facilities are nowhere near good enough to honest 2 senior championship matches, complete madness.
We shall soon see about that ;) ;)
McNaughton and McKinley step down
McNaughton and McKinley were in charge for three seasons
Sambo McNaughton and Dominic McKinley have stepped down from the Antrim senior hurling management.
McNaughton had hinted that the duo were likely to resign after this summer's campaign and they informed the county board of their decision on Monday.
The pair guided Antrim to three Ulster Hurling titles and a Walsh Cup success during their three years in charge.
However, their team failed to make an impact in the Championship and the Saffrons must look for new management.
McKinley's decision to step down also appears to have been influenced by his recent appointment as a full-time GAA coach.
McNaughton has said that their three-year stint "turned out very disappointing" after they started out with such high hopes.
There were high hopes for 2009 after the county were granted entry into the Leinster Championship but they bowed out in disappointing fashion against Dublin and the season went on to finish in something of a whimper.
McNaughton and McKinley didn't have a lot of luck during their term with key players getting injured at the wrong time.
Talented youngster Neil McManus was out for most of last season as the Saffrons were unable to build upon from the promise of their Walsh Cup win.
Paul Shields' absence was a major blow this year and the management weren't helped by a number of players being on holiday for big games because of confusion over fixture dates.
McNaughton has indicated that he will step away from management for the foreseeable future.