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[Although there is always a strong bias towards city players with underage squads in LGFA anyway.]

This just randomly popped up on my social media. Antrim minor ladies playing tonight and of a panel of 29 there are 28 city and one glenavy. Something doesn't seem right there?

Fall out over the Minor Final last year being played on the same day Moneyglass Senior Ladies were playing in Ulster.

So the MG girls have left the panel this year.

Same goes for the Senior Ladies, apart from the O'Neill sisters who aren't available all the time as they have their studies to focus on this year so I believe will be dropping in and out.

All fair enough but unfortunate timing for the Senior Ladies after reaching Div 3 for the first time.

Although there is always a strong bias towards city players with underage squads in LGFA anyway.

It usually depends where the management team is from, sure Randalstown will be able to balance the books with the minor hurlers 

I take it you are referring to the 3 hurlers that were involved last year that preceded the change of management??

Don't see any more faces added to them to boost the numbers.

I get what you mean about location of the management teams but I was more meaning at school age it definitely works in their favour as most of the boys and girls, while maybe not at the same club, go to school together so are a lot more familiar with each other, as well as the coaches who know most on a first name basis.

I suppose it works the same for hurling/camogie and north Antrim, as the majority go to one of 3 or 4 schools and the coaches are north Antrim based.

That just seems to be the bias each way between big ball and small ball panels.

This just randomly popped up on my social media. Antrim minor ladies playing tonight and of a panel of 29 there are 28 city and one glenavy. Something doesn't seem right there?

Fall out over the Minor Final last year being played on the same day Moneyglass Senior Ladies were playing in Ulster.

So the MG girls have left the panel this year.

Same goes for the Senior Ladies, apart from the O'Neill sisters who aren't available all the time as they have their studies to focus on this year so I believe will be dropping in and out.

All fair enough but unfortunate timing for the Senior Ladies after reaching Div 3 for the first time.

Although there is always a strong bias towards city players with underage squads in LGFA anyway.

I'd say there will be more concerts in it than Antrim matches.....certainly with regards to club matches.

Has it been decided what happens Clones once Casement is finally open?

Portglenones pitch is fantastic for the players.A really good surface but its no good for a large crowd to attend.

No parking other than a narrow country road and the pitch plus viewing isnt the best (bar a small bank on the far side). I was at Lgiel v St Johns SHC a few years back and it was really poor to try and view the game.

Great pitch and floodlights but not good enough for viewing.

TBH ballycasle ive found was always the best to stand and watch a county game or county final (where the final should be played).

Corrigan again has a good surface but anyone who was at the county hurling final past will know how hard parking was, trying to find space on the grass bank and then the potential health and safety hazard at the halfway line where the van was parked for the cameras. Anyone who was there will know of the potential of something going wrong with the size of the crowd trying to filter into a narrow path with a two way flow of traffic.

But it is where it is now and we have to deal with the set up we have.

They have a large car park there on 3 sides of the old pitch, so it isn't just the narrow road.

I know the viewing isn't acceptable as it is, but again, my point was the with the money going there they could have had a terrace/stand to add to what they already have.

Or even better, the money could have gone to Tír na nÓg when we were redeveloping anyway and stuck a stand at our pitch!

We lost control years ago but very sad to see Casement has turned into the political football it has, at the mercy of the British Government and Gordon Lyons to increase their contribution (even with the Irish Govt money) And if its built what stipulations will it have, will N Ireland play more games there? how many Antrim Gaels will even get to avail of it? The Euros is one thing but what after that, unpopular opinion probably not even possible at this stage, but a revamped Casement in the style of Healy Park or Armagh Athletic grounds should be built if this current fiasco continues. At least it would be ours,
A balls up from the start and when you see the same faces still hanging about the project it doesn't give much hope.

Rewind to 2012 or whenever casement closed. If the stand was redeveloped. Pitch maintained and terracing maintained we'd have a fantastic set up. The pitch/lights/space around the ground was brilliant. A new modern stand was all we needed

I agree, I always thought there was something a bit fishy about it all, as to why they didn't allow a local club to use the facilities and maintain the pitch as a way of getting free rent on the grounds.

A generation of players have missed out on ever getting to play in Casement which is such a shame.

How long were those floodlights installed before the place closed, 3 years was it?

Surely they knew what was coming so why spend that money on them knowing the stadium was the be completely redeveloped.

Unless there were a few brown envelopes skimmed off the top of the cost of them.

The current plans for Casement, while looking impressive, are totally over the top.

It is Antrim ffs, something similar to the Athletic Grounds would be perfect for all we need it for.

If they want it to replace Clones then just make it a larger Athletic Grounds, not an Aviva copy!

Of the list i dont think any of them tick all the boxes - remembering they also didnt get the money pumped into the ground that corrigan has.

Parking to me hosting top div 1 sides is a bigger food for thought as opposed 5 years ago.

Ballycastle to me is the closest to meeting most criteria aside from a covered terrace.

Reason i mention st endas is they have a school nearby to facilitate parking (albeit never been used for a big club fixture)
Secondly they have a natural tiered terrace - why this has never been adapted with rails and proper footing? Would make good viewing.

Portglenone is a great setup but could it host a game against your kilkenny or always come championship? Thinking of crowds?

My point is i believe other grounds could've been adapted to the standard of a good home base to a higher standard than corrigan with less spent on it

Yes, I was suggesting PG1 as somewhere if the money had been given for a terrace/stand it would tick the rest of the boxes.

But then maybe a bit too far for those in Belfast that make the decisions to want to travel too....and no social club to pint in!

Definitely not St Endas, it is an awful venue.

Poor pitch, poor parking, poor access.

Creggan is no better.

Portglenone I would say is superior to most.

Agree with the Corrigan point. If the invested money was afforded to another club with larger grounds they could've developed a better facility.

This was discussed at length at the time and I think everyone was in agreement that there could have been better and more central facilities that could have been invested in.

But we are where we are and going over old ground will not make the builders go in and lift the stands at Corrigan and move them to Randalstown or Antrim

Unfortunately with Antrim there has been plenty of if's and everyone is an expert looking in. We'd only, at this point been without Casement had we just kept it open and played there till when the builders came in.

Good point, the money should have been given to Tir na nOg 

Do St. Comgall's use Dunsilly or were they to get permission to use it initially?

The top pitch belongs to them and that was part of the original deal.....although I believe they still use the school pitch most of the time.

It's not a turd OSO ,that's really harsh .
Everyone knows St John's run a tight ship on match days and it runs like clockwork, not every club could do that ,so credit where it is due.
I mind reading that there was a plan to develop the opposite side from the stand with a full length terrace ,a few yards could be found for pitch width if this prevailed but maybe that plan has been shelved now.
One thing I do agree with OSO is that Corrigan is to close to Casement and a more central venue would have been a better option.
Alot of people seem to have issues with Dunsilly but I think there is scope there for future development.
Large terrace/stand on the bank with a toilet block ample to hold 3k crowd is all Antrim needs for club games.
Let's face it club games will be few and far in a new Casement.

There may be a view that Dunsilly could be developed but the railway tunnel doesn't help for health and safety. Toilet facilities and side pitch changing facilities would need to be in place. Covered stand and so on.

Dunsilly was purely designed for the county teams to have facilities for the county team.

Corrigan was purely a city based county ground as a stop gap for Casement.

It's done and it's a fine set up. Pitch sizing isn't a problem when we win and a problem when we lose.

As for the pitch condition, not too many out there that's better.

That issue with the railway tunnel could have been overcome.

There is a dead end road where you turn into the Dunsilly Hotel that, with a bit of money changing hands with a farmer, could have allowed for an access road in from the other side of the railway.

At the bare minimum that could have been used for emergency services access, if it wasn't going to be used as a public access for vehicles.

To me the whole Dunsilly plan was under thought and wasn't aspirational enough, which leaves us with what we have now.

A set up that the pitches are closed for use for a large part of the year, when many county teams in all 4 codes could and should be using them.

A 4g pitch for the middle pitch would have been a huge help.

And as suggested above, a terrace instead of a bank for the front pitch.

Perfect all year round for county training and club matches and it would have served as a decent alternative to Corrigan if needed for some county matches.

I admit I'm a little bit surprised- pleasantly so - at that result. 2.14 is a big score to run up too and without the player who is our biggest goal threat. Augurs well for the campaign ahead. If we beat Offaly, who lost today, we are in great shape for a promotion tilt rather than a relegation fight. Well done Andy and squad.

Is there any news on those 2 who pulled out through injury?

Didn't hear what the injuries were.

This was all discussed a few pages back, including Christy's eligibility to Derry through his mother.

And yes, Sean Duffin played for Tyrone last year but is away to Australia this year.

how are St Malachys and St Marys CBS performing these days?

which Belfast school is the closest to competing at McRory Level?

Don't know what grade CBS and St Malachys are in; we will see tomorrow which school is closest to McCrory level I suppose. But I imagine none will move into McCrory before winning MacClarnon.

CBS are McLarnon

St Malachys are a level down (Is it Markey Cup??)

However, they are strong further down the school so I would say by the time those lads reach the age they will be McLarnon.

I would doubt any of them with be MacRory Cup any time soon.

While it is all a fall out over the farce that happened from the fixtures last year, the players do have other reasons.

Prenter is travelling for the year and has promised to come back when she returns. Whether that is the full year or not remains to be seen. She is a class act and a big loss. As mentioned above, she could play for any county in Ireland.

Carey has retired from county.

The O'Neill's are rightly focusing on their education, one is doing A-Levels the other in final year at Uni.

The Devlin's have told management they are focusing on camogie this year for TNN and trying to give it a push, although they are also coaching underage football at MG.

The others I don't know as much about but all of that came from someone on the county management team that would definitely know the craic.

There wasn't as much feedback from the others as to why they weren't playing this year which probably says they had no good reason other than the boycott.

It is a real pity that they finally make it up to Div 3 and then the team falls apart.

It left them without a free taker and a goalkeeper, although one was transferred from Fermanagh as she is playing for St Pauls now.

We could have given it a real push and it will be hard to even stay up this year to hope that some of those players return next year.

I think a restructure is needed. But not a 16 team div 1. There is too big of a gap between top of 2 and bottom. The initial 1a 1b looked very competative making 4 leagues

Armagh league is 1a- 8 teams, 1b 8 teams, 2a- 8 teams, 2b- 8-teams, with junior also split between a and b which makes for competitive games at all levels in the main.  Two up two down.  Previously, had the 16 team senior league 16 team intermediate league and rest in junior and quite a few mismatches in league games.   

Yes an 8 team league makes absolute sense (my club have proposed exactly this). It will be competitive, every game will mean something and it will give the league credibility. 2 up, 2 down. Its the only decent option.

If we are realistic, there are only 5 clubs who could truly be considered as Div 1 clubs.

The rest of Div 1 are teams are a level down on them.

And of those there are maybe 3 or 4 who belong at that in between level and the rest are clubs that battle to stay up, yo-yo teams for want of a better category.

They are as far off challenging the top 5 as those at the top of Div 2 currently.

So 8 and 8 should make the most sense with 2 up and 2 down, or even a play off between 2nd bottom and 2nd top if there was the desire for that extra game.

It made sense the other year when Aghagallon played Ballymena, as one was a Div 1 team as the result fairly put both teams in the division they should be playing at, despite what had gone on in the season up to that point.