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You have to hand it to the fixtures committee this year, mid sptember and most of the leagues sorted. Must be 90% of games completed which is not normally the case at this time of year.

was it as late as 89? remember being 17 playing Dunloy in a championship match!!

Wasn't 89. Loughgiel (plus cloot) beat us in the senior semi final down in Cushendall about two/three weeks after the AIF

I'd guess 87

I am pretty sure 87 was the year Dunloy beat Armoy in Armoy with a last minute goal in the first round of the championship. Dominic McMullan and Paddy Watson got sent off for boxing late on. It is the nearest I can remember to Armoy taking a decent scalp in the senior championship although apparantly we were useful in the seventies.

Well done to Tipp on a fully deserved victory. Myself and many others on here did not see it coming and stand corrected. While Henry was a gamble I do not think anyone ever thought they would see Noel Hickey cleaned out like that. That KK team has stood for a long time on some central pillars but they were taken out today. Eddie Brennan subbed, Cha subbed, Hickey probably should have been subbed. Tipp had a plan to keep Tommy Walsh out of the game and it worked a treat. Lar Corbett was immense as was Noel McGrath and I thought the half back line were outstanding for Tipp and the full back line very good too. Will be some party in Tipp alright.

If Tennyson and Shefflin manage 70 minutes tomorrow it will be nothing short of miraculous. If they are both 100% the Cats will win by 8-10 points. Since last year the Cats have restored Noel Hickey allowing JJ Delany to move back to left half back. This has delivered overwhelming possesion to them in every championship match this year. If KK get 50% possesion they will beat any team in the country comfortably. This year like 2008 they are gaining 60% + possesion last year they won games against Tipp and Waterford while getting less than 50% and conceding goals and goal chances. This year the keeper has barely made a save and they have conceded 1 goal in three games.

Ballycastle have won two of the last 3/4 U-21 championships, there has to be something coming through to the seniors. I do not see much Div 1 hurling so I am in no place to judge but I would expect them to put it up to Glenariffe. Last year both Glenariffe and Ballycastle ran Dunloy close so they cannot be that far away. If you read too much into league results you start to think C Dall are not a good team.

Genuine question for any of the cork hurling fans on here, if Aisake was 5 ft 11 would he be considered in the top 100 hurlers in Cork? It is a sad day when a traditional county like Cork have to play a big guy who hasnt an ounce of hurling in him. It is the sort of thing you get in junior hurling but not in senior inter county.

It is better to live in hope than die in despair ( old armoy proverb)

Two points, first Laois have to play Carlow who are no mugs themselves. Second if Laois make it through bear in mind they dumped Antrim out of the all ireland at the same stage last year. Having said all that I am delighted we avoided Tipp.

A foreign game to the north-west of the country. One team in Connacht-Ulster that can have any serious aspirations of winning an AI and they have not done it in 23 years. AI series my shite

Wherasin the much more popular football Connacht/Ulster has produced a whole 3 counties capable of winning all irelands in the last 15 years. Between 1969 and 1991 Connacht and Ulster football won a combined 0 all irelands at football. But sure thats OK so long as all those counties keep ignoring hurling.

Should be a good evenly balanced match this one, when is it on?

Have you noticed that with all these new dual carriageways and motorways that are all interconnected, the only one that isn't connected to anything, is the one for Derry/Tyrone?!?

Ah give over Ziggy- Have you noticed we've no tolls to pay?

Yet

I for one have to hold my hands up and admit I was wrong about Cahill. I slagged Cahill off when he was appointed because I do not agree with his disregard for the league but if he can produce good performances in the championship then fair enough.I expected Antrim to be better than they were in the league but not to come close to winning. Clearly I was well off the mark. Having said that we in Antrim have more than enough hard luck stories to tell every one about and it would nice if just once we got the dodgy free in the last minute or the two minutes of unecessary time to see us over the finish line.

We had a team manager a few years back who was a protestant, he was on our committee for years. We had a few over the years train over the summer and hurl with our junior teams. Mainly connected to the local rugby team which we would have close ties with.

I would expect Antrim to be better than they were in the national league ( they could not be much worse), however I do not think Antrim have enough scoring power to compete with Offaly. Fourteen months ago the two teams met with both having a chance of promotion to Div 1. On the day Offaly could hit points from 60 yds wheras Antrim needed to be within 30 to 40 yds of the posts to score. Offaly won comfortably that day and I expect something similar tomorrow. Antrims only hope tomorrow is that Offaly build up a lead then go to sleep as some of the Offaly posters have suggested. 

As with many things in the slow decline of antrim hurling the long list of nicknames has also declined. Of that starting 15 there is only a hippy(jr) and a shorty. A sad reflection on the state of our hurling and our imaginations. Although we may have a winker on the bench?