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Think a few teams in div 2 would do well to look at the two lads who won it in Glenariffe. They had won it in Ahoghill too beforehand. If theyre wanting to go straight back in, theyve a great record at that level.

I've heard that they're in with Carey for this year.

Important motion going forward by St Galls at the convention.  Hoping that a lot of clubs get on board for it and we'll hopefully see the introduction of quarter finals in the intermediate championship.

Haven't seen any screenshots but from what I've heard it's been player driven which is disappointing given what the management team achieved this season.

What clubs at Division 2/Intermediate would you say should be dropping down to Junior?  We don't have a great record at Junior.  Only 5 clubs over 20 years have won it and since Lamh Dhearg were the last Antrim club to win it in 2016 we've only had two clubs reach the final (Cushendun in 2018 and Glenarm in 2022).  Other counties grading definitely has an impact on this too.  IMO in Derry the 5 clubs outside of slaughneill, Coleraine and Na Magha are all of similar standard and on any given day could beat each other.  So realistically you've 5 clubs who could either find themselves reaching a Derry SHC final or winning a Derry JHC and having a shot at an Ulster.

Sean was probably Tir Na Nogs main man in their championship run and has been on the Antrim panel before. Outside of Eamon Og McAllister (Who has been Hurling for Cavan) I can't think who else from Tir Na Nog would be in contention.  As for Creggan unless Conor McCann has decided to come out of inter county retirement, Ciaran Rice has come home from his travels or Ruairi McCann has decided to switch codes at inter county level I can't think of anyone else.

Out of interest.  Who has been drafted in from Creggan and Tir Na Nog?  Tir na Nogs two best hurlers have hurled for other counties in recent years.

To be honest.  I thought that whoever won the Glenariffe/Liatroim match will go on to win the Ulster IHC.  Carrickmore are a decent side with some really good hurlers but I think Glenariffe have too much firepower upfront and defensively they have been reasonably solid in their knock out games.  However, with the pitch conditions this time of year it could become a dogfight.  Again, I would envisage the winner of this game to go on and win it.  Can't see Lisbellaw or Castleblaney turning over either team in the final. 

As Dunloy have shown and other clubs like slaughneill and Eire Og, Ennis have shown playing both definitely compliments either sport.  However, those clubs all have huge numbers.  When you at that Dunloy team, yes almost all are dual players but they're all mostly in their 20's.  The only dual player above 30 is Nigel Elliott.  The point I would make is if you have the numbers and there is the right mix of age range and underage coming along below the surface then a club playing both is a no brainier.  For the likes of Carey and Glenarm in the past they wouldn't have massive numbers for their senior hurling team and to field in football they probably relied on their hurlers playing football to simply field.  And with low numbers and possibly older squads the likelihood of injuries is a lot higher in clubs like these and it's more likely to impact on their hurling team's ability to field as well. But as I say it's worth a try anyway.

Some clubs are fighting to just exist. Mitchells had years of getting hockeyed in football league and now just do south antrim league which tbh is fair enough. Larne would struggle for numbers so two adult sports a stretch. I'd say Carey, Cloughmills and Armoy the same. A lot of ones in the Glens have zero interest in football either and I do mean zero.

Ballycastle despite a lot of effort have struggled to keep the football going.

Fair play to Cloughmills for trying to branch out.  It seems to be working for them in the lfga.  However, I wouldn't be so sure about men's Gaelic Football given the amount of clubs surrounding them like Dunloy, Ballymena, Glenravel and Rasharkin who all field in Football.  They would most likely be dependent on their own senior hurlers, Loughgeil ones and others from Armoy, Ballycastle or Carey.  Although despite Dunloy winning the senior championship on Sunday past, they don't currently field a reserve team expect in the reserve shield (3/4 matches at most).  So you might find a few Dunloy ones who played underage Football wanting to play senior football so you never know.  I suppose all they can do is put it out there and hope for the best.

TG4 showing county final apparently

Jerome won't be happy

At least we'll get a bit of decent commentary on the game even if it is As Gaelige

Yea very much an amateur outfit.  Add to that the farce that the intermediate hurling championship has become.  In a championship that promises to be one of the most competitive only one game this weekend in the final round of group games (Randalstown v Glenarm) where both teams had something to play for.  That's 4 other games that were effectively dead rubbers.  Even in the last couple of years there have been at least 2 dead rubbers in this championship going into the final round.  Surely the county should add a quarter final round or else reduce this championship to 8 teams and run it with the same format as the senior.  Or better still go back to straight knock out.  For me a championship game should never be a dead rubber.  Championship hurling is about going hell for leather.

This behaviour from underage mentors seems to generally come from coaches who are in it to feed their own ego so in other words win at all costs.  If you're coaching at underage with a mindset like that you are more detrimental to the game on many levels. Underage should be about player development and trying to retain players whether that be in a playing capacity or other.  If you achieve success along the way then great but it should never be the absolute end goal.  The end goal should be how many are still involved in the club in x amount of years etc.  When coaches behave in a manner like mentioned above it is unacceptable.

I could be wrong here but I'm nearly sure in a three way tie on points it comes down to score difference in the games played between those three teams. This has been the case in the Hurling Championships or so I'm lead to believe. So that would be Ahoghill bottom on -13, St Paul's would be on +1 and Aghagallon on +12.

Most championships at all three levels almost set up for the knock outs. In senior the top two in each group meet in the final round and bottom two meeting in effectively two preliminary quarter finals (If you want to call them that).  In intermediate Ahoghill and Creggan looking very much like the two from their group.  Glenariffe looking more or less home and hosed.  Bit more of a fight between the rest.  Even St galls could pull themselves right back into the race if they beat tir na nog at milltown next time out.  In junior it's hard to look past Armoy.  However wouldn't rule out the Gorts, LD or Glenravel.  Knock out games can go any way I suppose.  Maybe about time we got rid of these silly groups and got back to straight knock out at all levels or even a structure like the down and Derry football championships.

Yea.  Boardroom promotions and relegations to very little for the clubs involved.  I think our current league system is really competitive.  For me all divisions 1-4 are largely competitive and the incoming promotions and relegations from this year I think will only maintain the competitive nature of these leagues.  Hopefully the county board leave things as they are.