Club hurling championships 2022

[manfromdelmonte]

Aimless balls into the FF line cost Dunloy today. And anytime they got the ball into space the forward was doubled up on and going away from goal

Thought Ballyhale looked a bit vulnerable when Dunloy ran at them and the few cycnical fouls stopped the Antrim men getting anywhere from that in 2nd half (but sure Kilkenny teams don't do that etc)

Also Fennelly for a big man falls over very easy to win a free. I actually think he has learned to trip himself

[Antrim Coaster]

While Dunloy are receiving praise for their display yesterday, their negative tactics contributed to their defeat.

The withdrawal of the corner forwards into the middle third was obviously designed to reduce the Ballyhale threat and in the first half it appeared to be working to an extent as there was 2 points in it at half time, which should have been a point due to a very scorable chance down the right which went wide.

However, a lot of ball into one or two forwards was swallowed up by the Ballyhale back line and it was a case of robbing Peter to play Paul.  In order to play that game you would need a big hoor of a full forward in the Colin Fennelly mode which Dunloy didn't have.
One thing I did notice was that Dunloy missed a lot of their picks, possibly due to the heavily sanded pitch and as a result Colin Fennelly picked the Dunloy full back line's pocket to set up the goal to put Ballyhale into the lead which they never lost. a ball which should have been cleared 20 seconds previously.

Dunloy were certainly not overawed by their illustrious opponents and Ballyhale knew they were in a game. However as mentioned by manfromdelmonte a lot of aimless balls into a one man FF line was never going to yield scores and in the second half several Dunloy poc outs went down the left wing which were closed down by Ballyhale.

Obvious that Ballyhale were aware of the threat posed by the likes of Keelan Molloy and closed off the running game especially in the second half when Ballyhale reinforced their half back line leaving it difficult for the Dunloy runners to attack, a tactic employed by Slaughtneil in the Ulster final a couple of years ago and by Loughgiel in the Antrim semi final a few years prior to that, where Dunloy had no answer on both occasions.

With 10 minutes left I felt that Dunloy needed to change their set up and go man on man because they were never going to get past the Ballyhale half back line. That never happened.

Definitely one that got away. I reckon Mickey McShane in Slaughtneil is chomping at the bit for a crack at Dunloy next season should Dunloy get out of Antrim which isn't a given depending on what Loughgiel bring to the table.

Plenty of the younger Loughgiel contingent on the Antrim panel this year which looks good for them as part of their rebuild. Cushendall, I'm still not sure about and its about time that Rossa and the Johnnies stepped up to the mark in the SHC, because let's face it neither of those clubs are going to do much in the football championship

[Milltown Row2]

While Dunloy are receiving praise for their display yesterday, their negative tactics contributed to their defeat.

The withdrawal of the corner forwards into the middle third was obviously designed to reduce the Ballyhale threat and in the first half it appeared to be working to an extent as there was 2 points in it at half time, which should have been a point due to a very scorable chance down the right which went wide.

However, a lot of ball into one or two forwards was swallowed up by the Ballyhale back line and it was a case of robbing Peter to play Paul.  In order to play that game you would need a big hoor of a full forward in the Colin Fennelly mode which Dunloy didn't have.
One thing I did notice was that Dunloy missed a lot of their picks, possibly due to the heavily sanded pitch and as a result Colin Fennelly picked the Dunloy full back line's pocket to set up the goal to put Ballyhale into the lead which they never lost. a ball which should have been cleared 20 seconds previously.

Dunloy were certainly not overawed by their illustrious opponents and Ballyhale knew they were in a game. However as mentioned by manfromdelmonte a lot of aimless balls into a one man FF line was never going to yield scores and in the second half several Dunloy poc outs went down the left wing which were closed down by Ballyhale.

Obvious that Ballyhale were aware of the threat posed by the likes of Keelan Molloy and closed off the running game especially in the second half when Ballyhale reinforced their half back line leaving it difficult for the Dunloy runners to attack, a tactic employed by Slaughtneil in the Ulster final a couple of years ago and by Loughgiel in the Antrim semi final a few years prior to that, where Dunloy had no answer on both occasions.

With 10 minutes left I felt that Dunloy needed to change their set up and go man on man because they were never going to get past the Ballyhale half back line. That never happened.

Definitely one that got away. I reckon Mickey McShane in Slaughtneil is chomping at the bit for a crack at Dunloy next season should Dunloy get out of Antrim which isn't a given depending on what Loughgiel bring to the table.

Plenty of the younger Loughgiel contingent on the Antrim panel this year which looks good for them as part of their rebuild. Cushendall, I'm still not sure about and its about time that Rossa and the Johnnies stepped up to the mark in the SHC, because let's face it neither of those clubs are going to do much in the football championship

Hard to argue there and I'm sure the game plan was exactly that, contain Ballyhale's scoring threat and last 5/10 minutes push up, man for man if they were still in it. Ballyhale though tagged over 4 or 5 unanswered points in minutes to stretch it to 6 points then 7

Dunloy achieved two targets this year, getting to Croke Park and beating S'Neil, and when the dust settles and they look at it they will realise that its been a good year, some players were not fully fit some players were missing completely, so they have something to work on for the new season.

It should though ignite the other Antrim clubs who'll see it as a missed opportunity for them and a chance to get back there.

The road to Croker starts today for all the clubs up and down the country

[johnnycool]

While Dunloy are receiving praise for their display yesterday, their negative tactics contributed to their defeat.

The withdrawal of the corner forwards into the middle third was obviously designed to reduce the Ballyhale threat and in the first half it appeared to be working to an extent as there was 2 points in it at half time, which should have been a point due to a very scorable chance down the right which went wide.

However, a lot of ball into one or two forwards was swallowed up by the Ballyhale back line and it was a case of robbing Peter to play Paul.  In order to play that game you would need a big hoor of a full forward in the Colin Fennelly mode which Dunloy didn't have.
One thing I did notice was that Dunloy missed a lot of their picks, possibly due to the heavily sanded pitch and as a result Colin Fennelly picked the Dunloy full back line's pocket to set up the goal to put Ballyhale into the lead which they never lost. a ball which should have been cleared 20 seconds previously.

Dunloy were certainly not overawed by their illustrious opponents and Ballyhale knew they were in a game. However as mentioned by manfromdelmonte a lot of aimless balls into a one man FF line was never going to yield scores and in the second half several Dunloy poc outs went down the left wing which were closed down by Ballyhale.

Obvious that Ballyhale were aware of the threat posed by the likes of Keelan Molloy and closed off the running game especially in the second half when Ballyhale reinforced their half back line leaving it difficult for the Dunloy runners to attack, a tactic employed by Slaughtneil in the Ulster final a couple of years ago and by Loughgiel in the Antrim semi final a few years prior to that, where Dunloy had no answer on both occasions.

With 10 minutes left I felt that Dunloy needed to change their set up and go man on man because they were never going to get past the Ballyhale half back line. That never happened.

Definitely one that got away. I reckon Mickey McShane in Slaughtneil is chomping at the bit for a crack at Dunloy next season should Dunloy get out of Antrim which isn't a given depending on what Loughgiel bring to the table.

Plenty of the younger Loughgiel contingent on the Antrim panel this year which looks good for them as part of their rebuild. Cushendall, I'm still not sure about and its about time that Rossa and the Johnnies stepped up to the mark in the SHC, because let's face it neither of those clubs are going to do much in the football championship

Hard to argue there and I'm sure the game plan was exactly that, contain Ballyhale's scoring threat and last 5/10 minutes push up, man for man if they were still in it. Ballyhale though tagged over 4 or 5 unanswered points in minutes to stretch it to 6 points then 7

Dunloy achieved two targets this year, getting to Croke Park and beating S'Neil, and when the dust settles and they look at it they will realise that its been a good year, some players were not fully fit some players were missing completely, so they have something to work on for the new season.

It should though ignite the other Antrim clubs who'll see it as a missed opportunity for them and a chance to get back there.

The road to Croker starts today for all the clubs up and down the country

Dunloy, historically play the two man FF line, but with the two lads centrally located, waiting to use the space out wide to sprint onto the ball, but for some reason yesterday when they did hit those spaces it was a Shamrocks lads sprinting out to it on their own. Hard to see from the TV why that was the case, but somewhere along the way tactics went awry.
Maybe it was Ballyhale pressure out the field, who knows!

[manfromdelmonte]

While Dunloy are receiving praise for their display yesterday, their negative tactics contributed to their defeat.

The withdrawal of the corner forwards into the middle third was obviously designed to reduce the Ballyhale threat and in the first half it appeared to be working to an extent as there was 2 points in it at half time, which should have been a point due to a very scorable chance down the right which went wide.

However, a lot of ball into one or two forwards was swallowed up by the Ballyhale back line and it was a case of robbing Peter to play Paul.  In order to play that game you would need a big hoor of a full forward in the Colin Fennelly mode which Dunloy didn't have.
One thing I did notice was that Dunloy missed a lot of their picks, possibly due to the heavily sanded pitch and as a result Colin Fennelly picked the Dunloy full back line's pocket to set up the goal to put Ballyhale into the lead which they never lost. a ball which should have been cleared 20 seconds previously.

Dunloy were certainly not overawed by their illustrious opponents and Ballyhale knew they were in a game. However as mentioned by manfromdelmonte a lot of aimless balls into a one man FF line was never going to yield scores and in the second half several Dunloy poc outs went down the left wing which were closed down by Ballyhale.

Obvious that Ballyhale were aware of the threat posed by the likes of Keelan Molloy and closed off the running game especially in the second half when Ballyhale reinforced their half back line leaving it difficult for the Dunloy runners to attack, a tactic employed by Slaughtneil in the Ulster final a couple of years ago and by Loughgiel in the Antrim semi final a few years prior to that, where Dunloy had no answer on both occasions.

With 10 minutes left I felt that Dunloy needed to change their set up and go man on man because they were never going to get past the Ballyhale half back line. That never happened.

Definitely one that got away. I reckon Mickey McShane in Slaughtneil is chomping at the bit for a crack at Dunloy next season should Dunloy get out of Antrim which isn't a given depending on what Loughgiel bring to the table.

Plenty of the younger Loughgiel contingent on the Antrim panel this year which looks good for them as part of their rebuild. Cushendall, I'm still not sure about and its about time that Rossa and the Johnnies stepped up to the mark in the SHC, because let's face it neither of those clubs are going to do much in the football championship

Hard to argue there and I'm sure the game plan was exactly that, contain Ballyhale's scoring threat and last 5/10 minutes push up, man for man if they were still in it. Ballyhale though tagged over 4 or 5 unanswered points in minutes to stretch it to 6 points then 7

Dunloy achieved two targets this year, getting to Croke Park and beating S'Neil, and when the dust settles and they look at it they will realise that its been a good year, some players were not fully fit some players were missing completely, so they have something to work on for the new season.

It should though ignite the other Antrim clubs who'll see it as a missed opportunity for them and a chance to get back there.

The road to Croker starts today for all the clubs up and down the country

Dunloy, historically play the two man FF line, but with the two lads centrally located, waiting to use the space out wide to sprint onto the ball, but for some reason yesterday when they did hit those spaces it was a Shamrocks lads sprinting out to it on their own. Hard to see from the TV why that was the case, but somewhere along the way tactics went awry.
Maybe it was Ballyhale pressure out the field, who knows!

Plenty of video analysis done by club teams
The Dunloy game plan would have been well dissected

I was impressed with the battling for ground possession and the flicks and blocking of Dunloy. It kept them competitive throughout the game.

Also the pitch is a disgrace. In better condition for primary school games than AI finals.
It was even worse for the junior/intermediate finals last week

[keep her low this half]

While Dunloy are receiving praise for their display yesterday, their negative tactics contributed to their defeat.

The withdrawal of the corner forwards into the middle third was obviously designed to reduce the Ballyhale threat and in the first half it appeared to be working to an extent as there was 2 points in it at half time, which should have been a point due to a very scorable chance down the right which went wide.

However, a lot of ball into one or two forwards was swallowed up by the Ballyhale back line and it was a case of robbing Peter to play Paul.  In order to play that game you would need a big hoor of a full forward in the Colin Fennelly mode which Dunloy didn't have.
One thing I did notice was that Dunloy missed a lot of their picks, possibly due to the heavily sanded pitch and as a result Colin Fennelly picked the Dunloy full back line's pocket to set up the goal to put Ballyhale into the lead which they never lost. a ball which should have been cleared 20 seconds previously.

Dunloy were certainly not overawed by their illustrious opponents and Ballyhale knew they were in a game. However as mentioned by manfromdelmonte a lot of aimless balls into a one man FF line was never going to yield scores and in the second half several Dunloy poc outs went down the left wing which were closed down by Ballyhale.

Obvious that Ballyhale were aware of the threat posed by the likes of Keelan Molloy and closed off the running game especially in the second half when Ballyhale reinforced their half back line leaving it difficult for the Dunloy runners to attack, a tactic employed by Slaughtneil in the Ulster final a couple of years ago and by Loughgiel in the Antrim semi final a few years prior to that, where Dunloy had no answer on both occasions.

With 10 minutes left I felt that Dunloy needed to change their set up and go man on man because they were never going to get past the Ballyhale half back line. That never happened.

Definitely one that got away. I reckon Mickey McShane in Slaughtneil is chomping at the bit for a crack at Dunloy next season should Dunloy get out of Antrim which isn't a given depending on what Loughgiel bring to the table.

Plenty of the younger Loughgiel contingent on the Antrim panel this year which looks good for them as part of their rebuild. Cushendall, I'm still not sure about and its about time that Rossa and the Johnnies stepped up to the mark in the SHC, because let's face it neither of those clubs are going to do much in the football championship

Hard to argue there and I'm sure the game plan was exactly that, contain Ballyhale's scoring threat and last 5/10 minutes push up, man for man if they were still in it. Ballyhale though tagged over 4 or 5 unanswered points in minutes to stretch it to 6 points then 7

Dunloy achieved two targets this year, getting to Croke Park and beating S'Neil, and when the dust settles and they look at it they will realise that its been a good year, some players were not fully fit some players were missing completely, so they have something to work on for the new season.

It should though ignite the other Antrim clubs who'll see it as a missed opportunity for them and a chance to get back there.

The road to Croker starts today for all the clubs up and down the country

Dunloy, historically play the two man FF line, but with the two lads centrally located, waiting to use the space out wide to sprint onto the ball, but for some reason yesterday when they did hit those spaces it was a Shamrocks lads sprinting out to it on their own. Hard to see from the TV why that was the case, but somewhere along the way tactics went awry.
Maybe it was Ballyhale pressure out the field, who knows!

Plenty of video analysis done by club teams
The Dunloy game plan would have been well dissected

I was impressed with the battling for ground possession and the flicks and blocking of Dunloy. It kept them competitive throughout the game.

Also the pitch is a disgrace. In better condition for primary school games than AI finals.
It was even worse for the junior/intermediate finals last week

Lots of games played in Croke during December and January is always going to be an issue and wear down the pitch. Also a lot of hard frost during the week before the match. This is the downside of playing all ireland finals in the depths of winter.

[Franko]

https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-41054768.html

Combination of a lot of fixtures and a new pitch being laid after Garth Brooks according to McKenna.

I don't know if the time of year is the issue at all - they've artificial light and undersoil heating systems on the go down there

It's June all year round for the Croke Park sod

[seafoid]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/2023/03/07/ballyhale-shamrocks-dominate-selection-for-club-hurling-team-of-the-year/
AIB GAA CLUB HURLING TEAM OF THE YEAR

Stephen O'Keeffe (Ballygunner)

Killian Corcoran (Ballyhale Shamrocks)

Joey Holden (Ballyhale Shamrocks)

Ryan McGarry (Dunloy)

Kevin Molloy (Dunloy)


Richie Reid (Ballyhale Shamrocks)

Darragh Corcoran (Ballyhale Shamrocks)

Conor Sheahan (Ballygunner)

Adrian Mullen (Ballyhale Shamrocks)

Eoin Cody (Ballyhale Shamrocks)

TJ Reid (Ballyhale Shamrocks)

Pauric Mahony (Ballygunner)

Conal Cunning (Dunloy)

Colin Fennelly (Ballyhale Shamrocks)

Patrick Fitzgerald (Ballygunner)