Antrim Football Thread

[country bumpkin]

Was at the 21 games and thought the ref had one to forget...............

[stiffler]

Well done Aghagallon , what a year.

Pat branagan and Oisin Lenehan both stand out players for me.

Jim Connolly had a good first half for Rossa.

[Gold]

Congratulations to St Mary's

[JimStynes]

What was the craic with Rossa having players from other clubs playing for them?

[Sportacus]

Thought Rossa shaded it in the first half but Aghagallon improved a lot in the second.  Rossa got very frustrated with the ref, but that was absolutely no excuse for the discipline meltdown from some of their players in the closing stages.  Pat Branagan only knows one way to play, always driving at the opposition.  Great player.   

[stiffler]

Thon sanction rule which while I appreciate it helping lads get football, it's not without its problems and can be detrimental to us in the long term.

How many lads did Rossa from other clubs ?

Did they play with the Ulster winning team of 5 years ago , or is this just for u21 level due to their clubs not fielding at this grade ?

[paddyjohn]

Thon sanction rule which while I appreciate it helping lads get football, it's not without its problems and can be detrimental to us in the long term.

I know people from a few clubs that say the same. Lads coming from other parishes and their own club men not getting games and walking away while the other disappear after a few seasons.

[stiffler]

Thon sanction rule which while I appreciate it helping lads get football, it's not without its problems and can be detrimental to us in the long term.

How many lads did Rossa from other clubs ?

Did they play with the Ulster winning team of 5 years ago , or is this just for u21 level due to their clubs not fielding at this grade ?

2 I think. They didn't play for us before as far as I'm aware. As I said, it has its merits but I don't like to see Rossa lads sitting on the sideline, making way for the sanctioned players. It's fundamentally flawed IMO.

That's mad, I wouldn't be keen on that myself if I was a Rossa man.

Plenty of talent in that team HS, hard to believe you have yet to win a county u21.

That was Aghagallon's first championship win at senior grade at any age group. A great bunch of lads & a testament to the hard work that has went on at underage levels for a number of years within the club.

[concernedgaa]

  Two penalties that should never have been IMO stopping the game for someone off the pitch behind the net- disgraceful. Needs to be looked at or not as is usually the case with refs but unfortunately a bad ref frustrates the life out of any team. As for the sanction players one had played before but  Both deserved their places.  Fair play to them all and hard lines.  Refs can make or break a game and for Rossa he broke it but that's just my opinion. These kids deserved their place in final it was just hard lines

[bannside]

As a total neutral I immensely enjoyed the full hour. Usually at U 21 level you might get a passenger or two making up the numbers...but I didn't see a player on the pitch that hadn't decent skills and plenty of pace. A good advert for Antrim Football and HS is gracious enough to recognise that Aghagallon, as we and the Johnnies before us found out, we're a damn good all round team.

Then again. Throw in a Deaghlan Murphy and  Gareth George and it could have been different.

But Rossa are a big club and will bounce back. Plenty of good talent coming through and they will know they have the players who are as good as whats out there. 

On the other hand fair play to Aghagallon. They have been a breath of fresh air and without naming names have half a dozen players who could kick on in Saffron in the next few years.

I'll be at Creggan to support them.

[The Gs Man]

Scrappy enough game, which Rossa shaded in the first half. First penalty, big McCann bought it, second penalty, I think it was definitely a penalty.

We played a lot better in the second half, but Rossa matched us. Were unlucky hitting the post to level it with a few minutes left.

Discipline went towards the end. Particularly the big midfielder who was black carded. I was beside the row at the end and he didn't cover himself in glory.  I even heard him saying they should try to get the match abandoned.  Not cool.

But anyway. A hard fought game between two closely matched teams. The fact that our lads had been training and playing competitively up until a couple of weeks back probably helped us over the line.

[concernedgaa]

GS man find that hard to believe That's never nor ever will be the Roosa way! Never relied on others to win a match by default or otherwise. But to be honest IMO. The ref was a 16th man for aghallion  sad but that's the reality

[The Gs Man]

Concernedgaa, I am just telling you what I heard from standing right beside him at the time. I'm not just making something up.

Look, it was a bit of a spoiler for the match as it was very enjoyable game between two evenly matched teams.

[The Gs Man]

Gs man, I was in a fairly good position for the 2nd penalty. It was a foul all day long. It wasn't within an asses roar of the penalty area though. The ref may as well have been on Cargin's other pitch, he was that far away too.

Fair enough hardstation.  I was just to the left of Rossa dugout so I'll take your word for it.

[Pocs pints and the gaa]

GS man find that hard to believe That's never nor ever will be the Roosa way! Never relied on others to win a match by default or otherwise. But to be honest IMO. The ref was a 16th man for aghallion  sad but that's the reality

Of course it was a penalty. Ffs he could have been killed