Antrim Football Thread

[Atticus_Finch]

6 points in this game at the end with St Galls winning 3-8 to 0-11  but that's only because St Galls took the foot off the pedal during the 2nd half.   A number of occasions during the second half they started backward passing just for the sake of keeping possession.

St Galls look very strong in every department.  Feels like a long time since i've seen Sean Kelly play ball but he looked impressive. 

Cargin presented them with quite a lot of space and a lot of other teams wouldn't be so generous.  In saying that St Galls made space for themselves, with a lot of running off the ball and clever diagonal balls.

Kevin Mc Gourty didn't look fit,  when he is fit you would imagine St Galls would be very hard to stop.

I love St Galls fans and there Windsor Park chants, worth the £8 admission fee alone !

[ONeill]

That's a while since I've seen Galls play and they showed in fits and spurts that they are potential Ulster champions. I thought Kevin McGourty was the best player on the field followed closely by Sean Kelly. McGourty wasn't match fit in terms of lasting the whole game and was blowing rightly late on, though still managed the last point I think. His vision was tremendous and the move that led to the foot-block penalty was stupendous, involving another one of those curled passes McGourty was spraying all game, collected by a sliding Conor McGourty and fed to Aodhan Gallagher I think. It was a mirror image of the move that led to the goal Cavanagh scored against Antrim. Kevin was one of those boys I grouped with Enda Muldoon - I'd yet to see their reputation justified in the flesh. After today, you can see what Kevin is capable of when he's up to speed.

St Gall's also have that telepathy you associate with successful teams who've been together for 5-6 years. For the first 30 mins they humiliated Cargin in every sector. The Gallagher-McGourty FF line was destroying Cargin - you'd have thought it was Donaghy/Walsh given their aerial superiority. Only when they started roughing McGourty up a bit did they start to gain a bit of a foothold.

To Cargin's credit they upped it from the throw-in in the second half but some of their wides were atrocious. It could've been a lot closer. Close was causing all manner of problems late on. Would liked to have seen Tomas on the ball more as he was cutting through them when he managed to build up a head of steam.

All-in-all, if St Gall's can keep their heads about them, Ulster is there for the taking.

[OverThePostsAWide]

Strange game. Big crowd fleeced for £8 for 15 minutes of football.

Men against boys. Cargin will win nothing until thon boxing club they have next door to their club is closed. They might be able to close out the odd tight league match in Toome with those bankrupt tactics (how many league titles have they won?) but it won't work in championship against an experienced team like St Gall's and with all those extra official eyes. And what is it with Cargin goalkeepers? I know you need to be certified to be a goalkeeper but Cargin take it to new heights. He should have walked twice. He walked out 14m to slap Rory Gallagher in full view of the umpires just after Gallagher and M McCann were booked (I think Gallagher was booked for displaying his hairy chest provocatively when his shirt was ripped down the middle) in an obvious attempt to goad Gallagher into retaliation and a second yellow. He (the mad goalkeeper) then slapped Burke on the back of the head in full view of the stand in the "tunnel" going off at half-time.

I don't know who started it (in particular, I mean, it was certainly Cargin), but the ruccous at half-time was nasty and dangerous. Thank goodness for the wire fencing and some effective Casement Park stewarding or there would have been some rabid Cargin supporters in the middle of it too. When I say experienced, St Gall's - or perhaps it was their inexperienced management - showed some naivite in choosing to go down the tunnel at half-time at the same time as a Cargin team they had just humiliated for 30 minutes  I couldn't help but laugh at a Portglenone supporter who suggested more in hope than in seriousness that both teams should be thrown out of the championship 

The refereeing was soft. He was careful not to give second yellows eventhough several were merited. He was a bit star struck too. Patting the county men on the back and being all "matey" when he penalised them and even after booking them! It wasn't a penalty for me. From where I was, the ball was blocked by a thigh, close in, but not close enough to be blocking the actual kick (which is what the foot-block offence is in place to protect against). Still, didn't affect the outcome but did finish the game as a contest. Well that and CJ's two moments of brilliance in bagging a goal himself and knocking one down for Gallagher out of nothing. Unfortunately for CJ, Liam Bradley only took his seat after that and CJ did very little else apart from succumbing to a slap and headbutt or two (did I miss a "two headbutt" rule being introduced?).

Cargin were made to look very ordinary. I thought the Irish News report did Ciaran Close a disservice (he was Cargin's best man by far and gave Colin Brady a roasting) and flattered Crozier and Tony Scullion, in particular. Scullion was back to his best, not so much "greyhound pup let loose in the park" as "rabid rottweiller let loose in the park" impression. Sean Kelly was sublime.

There were very few clean catches in the middle of the field. Not because of bunching, but because time and again players misjudged their running jumps and the balls went over their fingertips. Was that down to the lights?

I disagree with O'Neill on Kevin McGourty. I thought he looked a shadow of his former self and not just on fitness. Maybe I missed some of the good things he did? I also disagree on their Ulster Championship prospects. They will win Antrim at a canter (God help Portglenone or St Brigid's), but I think they are Tyrone in disguise. They haven't, and won't be, tested until it is too late? Time well tell on both counts, I guess.

[imtommygunn]

I'd agree with you Over The Posts. McGourty(Kevin) did some good things in patches but looked very unfit and sluggish. In my view Sean Kelly was the best player on view probably followed by Close.

In the second half the St Galls FF line wouldn't have had much of a chance though as the half forward line was so deep they would have had to go far too far out to win their own ball.

If you look at it every St Galls player knows exactly what job they have to do when they go out on the field. They're well drilled in that regard. You most certainly could not say the same about Cargin. It would be interesting to see St Galls in a tighter match to see if they have the ability to adapt the way they play.

Cargin kept their discipline reasonably well considering. After half time I thought the second half was going to be a boxing match but thankfully it didn't materialise. I didn't realise what the goalie was up to but he has a bit of form.

The referee was utterly abysmal. You can't footblock a boy when the ball hits your foot a good bit after it's been kicked. Cargin no 2 did headbutt like you say and got a yellow. McLean fouled at least 5 times in that game and not even ticked. Burke likewise and probably Kevin McGourty similar. Also Cargin should have had a penalty at the end.

[haranguerer]

The galls management/players actually did try to let cargin in before them at ht, and a number of them were calling rory back as he went to run on in. Personally, I think he knew what he was at. That of course is no excuse for cargin starting the brawl.

Thought scullion needs to cop himself on a bit - hes a good player, but I dont think i saw him actually go for the ball in the second half, he was just trying to wreck the men, could have picked up a few bookings.

As regards mcgourty, there were certainly still glimpses, but no way was he a contender for motm. Overtheposts, I know what you mean, but I would attribute most of his sloppy play later in the game to a lack of match fitness, i'd say if he was back to full fitness we'd find he hasn't lost any of his talent. Sean kelly motm for me.

With regard to the game as a whole, Galls won the game in 15 min, then stopped playing. I always had the sense that if necessary they could flood up the field and score another goal if the wanted. Also, imo the penalty definitely was a footblock, I didnt see any distance between the kicker and the blocker, and it seemed to me that it hit him below the knee.

very impressed with Galls, think ulster could certainly be there for them, mebbe more. Hoping that I'll get to see them play a whole game at some stage this year.

[clawaddy]

Attended the game last night, very enjoyable first quarter particularly CJ's brilliant touches.  As an outsider(Derry man) I have a couple of complaints about the game presentation.  There were no programmes which people like me who dont recognise players need.  There were no announcements of Ntional Anthem, subs, time added etc.  For the biggest club game of the year in Antrim the presentation left a lot to be desired

[aontroim]

Senior Football Championship
Portglenone 1-9 v 0-11 St. Brigids

Minor Football Championship
Erins Own Cargin 1-7 v 2-10 Creggan Kickhams

Portglenone v St. Galls final for the third time in recent years - can Portglenone do any better this time?

[glens abu]

Senior Football Championship
Portglenone 1-9 v 0-11 St. Brigids

Minor Football Championship
Erins Own Cargin 1-7 v 2-10 Creggan Kickhams

Portglenone v St. Galls final for the third time in recent years - can Portglenone do any better this time?

on last nights performance they have a very poor chance,but it was good to see a few glimpses of brilliance from Kevin Madden after a couple of years out,although don't think he should be playing at all considering his health situation

[imtommygunn]

I didn't expect Madden to be back playing at all. Quite surprised but maybe his health has improved.

Fair play to Portglenone. The final is a big mountain to climb for them though. I think it's only their second final... I see the final is stand alone. I think it would be better as a double header like previous years. A lot of people will think Portglenone have no chance...

[Hoof Hearted]

3rd final - 05, 07 and 09

A pity they are playing St. Galls again, somebody different would have been nice.

[pebble-dasher]

Having been at both the drawn game and reply st bridgets will be kicking themselves today.  If they had one descent forward who could take half a score they would have beat portglenone out the gate.  The ginger corner forward was one on one with brian mc cann and only had to put it in when he tried to act the lad and round the keeper.  The score was 10 to 1.05 for stbridgets and would have left portglenone with even fewer ideas with around 10 minutes left.

Was great to see kevin madden playing again and tormenting defences.

On the final portglenone simply do not have any fire power capable of troubling the two best defenders in the county mc lean and brady. 

One final moan is i would like to have seen a double header because casement is empty enough on county final day with out splitting the attendence even more.

[saffron sam2]

3rd final - 05, 07 and 09

A pity they are playing St. Galls again, somebody different would have been nice.

An interesting turn of phrase.

Was great to see kevin madden playing again and tormenting defences.

Yes, but what was the former inter-county free-taker, current mediocre inter-county trainer and sender of cranky texts to my work colleagues about what I post here wearing on his head?

Is there a medical reason for it?

[Hoof Hearted]

Why is that SS2, because i used to play for them ?

[tonesfirstandlast]

Why is that SS2, because i used to play for them ?

That is debatable Hoof!

[Mhic Easmuint]

Why is that SS2, because i used to play for them ?

That is debatable Hoof!

Hoof was useful for an oul goal or two come championship!