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I personally came away from derry thinking antrim club football is in a better place than I had thought.  If Glen are the 2nd best team in Ireland the the top 4 or 5 in antrim are physically in a good place.  Cargin the equal of them though were visibly frustrated at a (I'll be generous and say curious) curious performance from the official. Glen were protected throughout.  A lot of positives to take from it for the county as a whole. Cargin cant seem to get the rub of the green in these last 2 ulster games.


Glenravel had a horror show on the day but a big winter awaits them. 

The area looks tight for a stand but certainly a few rows of terracing would be beneficial, bathroom facilities too.  depends how much use for it they see on a long term basis.  could be wrong but seemed a lot of people content with location

Do all the competitions not run as they were in the SW? Do you mean PR wise or is there less in terms of competition? The SW always run things well but perhaps don't generate as much publicity I think.

Yes meant PR perspective.  Juvenile games all going ahead in SW so there is someone there sorting things out. 

BS - I'd agree with much of what you have said. Donal Murphy a very talented individual. The next officials hopefully will be equally as good and can build on much of what has gone before. 

After Dunsilly gym, (ignoring casement) what is the next big infrastructure project in the pipeline?

I would agree BS, great credit due to Ciaran and his team.  We can all pick at things but it was a tenure that brought the county on in many ways.

On another note, perhaps it is just me but are the regional boards much quieter now?  Maybe i'm missing something but certainly the SW seems to have been very quiet as past few years 

Difficult to judge exactly where Glen are at the moment but they have been very professional to date.  Blew Magherafelt away in that 2nd half yesterday and they have a serious amount of men who can score. 

The Derry championship is in a worse state than I had previously thought.  Glen's brilliance has taken the eye away from how badly the other teams have slipped down.     

Down are very beatable.  a good draw to get

[we are seriously short of strong teams right now]

As for an open championship. Maybe open in terms of chances of getting to a final, and that certainly proved to be the case, but we are seriously short of strong teams right now!

It feels quite difficult to keep people happy on here and appears to be repeated each year.  A month ago the Antrim Championship was being lauded as open and anyone could win, a number of good teams now serious contenders and a county team on the up.  Cargin win and now both they and the other teams are poor. The Tyrone championship is unique in that it is very strong but going through the others you would give any of the Antrim top 5 a chance against the other ulster counties top 5.   

Barring huge upsets (which can happen) Glen are miles ahead of the others in Derry, Kilcoo and Burren the only standouts in Down. Glenties are a quality outfit and they get little credit on here.    The top half of the Antrim league is generally in good shape, the lower half not so much.   

[Owenbeg]

St galls are the best club side to play in antrim but largely hollow due to the postcode lottery they employed for personnel.  Cargin finished them in 2016 and every club in antrim should be thankful as the blow ins started considering the likes of bredagh, st bridget's and Carryduff as alternatives. Now a number of clubs believe they have a chance of a title. 

  The '82 st galls team should have been the club's heroes but now they are left with an empty shadow of a side that couldn't get out of the group stages this year.  Every club has blow ins but if you have too many then they desert the sinking ship quite quickly.

What Cargin and Dunloy have achieved with limited resources and playing numbers is infinitely more impressive. Just my opinion of course. 

Are you aware that dunloy had three "blow ins"?

Spike hurts my head, if he'd only research before posting..

Yep Bannside that's whats required, will be some head scratching by the 'big' clubs this year on how a Div 3 team    dispatched all that came before them...

Now all roads lead to Owenbeg for the first round against whatever team comes outta Derry, hopefully another win which would open the door for a great run in the competition

As far as i know youve a bit further to travel - its in Celtic Park

Yes, another exhibition of forensic research given there by MR2. 

Fair enough. Any others on that team MR2?

Cargin have never had a blow in, ever. Especially not any from Randalstown.

You conveniently left out the part where I said every club has blow ins. Tut tut

St galls are the best club side to play in antrim but largely hollow due to the postcode lottery they employed for personnel.  Cargin finished them in 2016 and every club in antrim should be thankful as the blow ins started considering the likes of bredagh, st bridget's and Carryduff as alternatives. Now a number of clubs believe they have a chance of a title. 

  The '82 st galls team should have been the club's heroes but now they are left with an empty shadow of a side that couldn't get out of the group stages this year.  Every club has blow ins but if you have too many then they desert the sinking ship quite quickly.

What Cargin and Dunloy have achieved with limited resources and playing numbers is infinitely more impressive. Just my opinion of course. 

Dunloy are a good side when full out and it was refreshing to watch them this year but how can you play in the senior championship from Division 3, madness if it happens.

I would imagine that's a decision for them.

More the point, that they played in a Senior final ahead of all the dedicated Div 1 football clubs, would be the wider and more worrying point for anyone in Antrim football in general.

15 men behind a ball tactics deployed by a number of so called top teams is perhaps covering a multitude of issues.  I wonder if McEntee will ask any of the Dunloy players up next year? Smyth looks a potential.  Now that i am looking at it, there is a curious case of a lack of Antrim county representation on Sunday

a lot of chat here about Colm in a match that didn't feel that controversial. deserved red card, young lad can have no complaints. No one likes getting beat but dunloy are clutching at straws about a potential foot block when it was obvious colm had made a decision. Cargin complaining about only a yellow for the Stamp and constant jersey pulling in the tackles throughout. 
Colm cant please everyone. 

The longer the game went on without Dunloy putting up scores the more Dunloy had to push up which left more space for Cargin at the other end.   Apart from a couple of breakaway moments it never felt as though Cargin were a man down and they always looked as if they had a goal in them, even missed a few chances. 

Dunloy have some serious pace in that side and they bring a freshness to the game as opposed to 15 men behind a ball tactics deployed by many this year.   

Firstly congrats to Cargin.A very experienced team. Tomas is a goat and Mick is a rolls Royce. Conhuir J is the next big thing and needs to be nurtured, but alot has to be said for officiating decisions. Dunloy should of had a penalty and another cargin man should have seen red.
The bigger picture is this type of officiating does not help Antrim game on a club level or on a county level.

Miltownrow might cry and say why don't you take the whistle but the stone cold truth is the quality of reffing and decisions need to improve if our county is to improve on the big stage.
But who am I? Only one man's opinion, or is it?

Playing against 14 men for 2/3rd of the match, 9 mins overtime and a 6 point defeat and you're blaming the referee?  Good lord

Does it need to be a hurling stronghold venue?  Would a Ballymena, Portglenone or Cargin be suitable?

A few public bodies may be asked to search behind the sofa cushions for loose change in the near future. I am not sure the project can survive another shambles.  You would think with the Euros bid accepted there is no going back now and the GAA under big pressure to deliver too