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Disappointed for Portaferry.

Came down to the wire. I think it really could have gone either way, and was in the  melting pot up until Slaughtneil's goal in the last ten minutes.

It wasn't as spectacular a game as we have seen in recent years, but that's the nature of these types of battles.

McGrattan obviously a huge loss. Coleman was very impressive.

Portaferry may feel certain decisions went against them, but the fact of the matter is the Ports had chances and unfortunately, they weren't able to capitalise at the right times.

SN are a serious side. The physicality they bring is very, very difficult to live with. Their ability to win ball goes a long way in helping their game. That is before even commenting on the quality hurling they play.

Portaferry will be disappointed. But I do think it is important to take a step back and look at how they have come on in recent years.

In 2022, Portaferry were put out of Ulster in the semi finals by SN- losing by almost 20 points. 3 years later and they have clearly shown they have caught up with the Derry men. It is massive progress in a short period of time.

I know that won't be much comfort to them over the winter, but it is well worth noting.

Portaferry are still very much the team to beat in Down and no doubt there's more to come from this team.

Best of luck to Slaughtneil now in Ulster. I'd say they should win the Ulster Final, but I do think it would be great to see St John's get over the line. Setentna weren't absolutely blown away in the other semi final, so hopefully they stick up in the Senior Championship for next year. Great to have more teams and more games.

Hard luck also to Clonduff camogs. Game was far closer than final score line might suggest (they lost by 7, but were a point or 2 behind Loughguile for the majority of the game). It is great to see them competing with teams like Loughguile, and hopefully there is more to come.

Best of luck to the Clonduff Camogs in the Senior Ulster Final today against Loughgiel.

Best of luck to Portaferry in the Ulster Semi Final against Slaughtneil this weekend.

Very hard to call. Slaughtneil won Derry at a canter- they're only getting going now. This is their first real game of any meaning since they were pipped by the narrowest of margins by Sarsfields from Cork last year in the All Ireland Series.

Portaferry won the Senior Championship convincingly at the end, but they made hard enough work of it, and at half time I really fancied Ballygalget to kick on and shock them. Portaferry did what Portaferry do and found that next level and were well out of sight by the end of the game. The Slaughtneil crowd down in Newry that day didn't look too impressed, but they won't be taking the Ports lightly. It still feels more like Portaferry lost last year's Ulster Final than Slaughtneil won it, and they'll be eager to get that back.

Portaferry probably aren't just as strong as they were, but I don't think Slaughtneil are either. This is undoubtedly the tougher side of the draw, and whoever comes out of this will have to fancy themselves for Ulster. Slaughtneil will be more wary of Portaferry, but the Ports have shown they are no flash in the pan and are amongst the best in Ulster. Should be a good days hurling.

Liatroim and Castlewellan will be disappointed with how their respective years ended.

The intermediate final was a lot closer than I had anticipated, and Carryduff looked heartbroken. Losing 5 finals in a row is sickening. They have improved massively though in that period, and should really be looking at making it to the next stage of the senior championship in my opinion.

Liatroim very much seemed as though they had bigger things on their mind, as alluded to in the speech after the final. However they probably had the unkindest draw and came up just short against a very strong Glenariffe side away in Antrim. I'd have said those two teams would have been the strongest intermediate sides in Ulster. Liatroim probably didn't have the year they would have wanted, but I don't think many would have tipped them to win the Intermediate at the start of the championship given their performances.

There's a couple players from both Liatroim and Carryduff who in my opinion should be involved with Down going forward.

Castlewellan won the Junior Final in the most dominant display we've seen in years. Not really sure what happened to Kilclief. They were reminiscent of Cork in the second half of the All Ireland Final with a complete break down in play, scoring only 2 points in the second half.

Castlewellan will feel they should have won that championship 4 or 5 years ago. It will be a massive money off their back and I feel like they have the potential to establish themselves as a serious intermediate team, and with the work being done at underage in the club, they could kick on even further.

Kilclief will no doubt be there or there abouts next year. Next year's JHC should be a good spectacle, with Clonduff coming down, leaving it as open as it's been in a number of years, with no clear favourite as of yet.

Castlewellan couldn't deal with Burt in the first round of Ulster, but it's been well discussed the flaws in having a team of Burt's quality in the Junior Championship. Castlewellan likely would have beat the Donegal Junior Champions, Letterkenny, well, but it is what it is. Looking forward to seeing how Castlewellan fare in Div 1 now next year.

I see Saval acted as a home venue for Aghaderg in the Ulster Camogie Championship. Would it be the first camogie match to have been played on Nan Sands Park?

I think Saval put out a hurling team many, many years ago.

Think Lavey are around the level of Middletown would that be fair to say? Who have won the Armagh senior championship 7 years in a row and play in Ulster intermediate?

I'd personally say Lavey would be a bit stronger than Middletown. Lavey looked more dominant over Cúchulainns than Middletown did, but even disregarding that, Lavey look like a younger, fitter side.

The solution is 2-fold: we need to raise the overall standard of club hurling in Ulster, and we need more teams. It is not unfeasible that there could be 20 senior hurling teams in Derry in the next 10 years if the work was put in.

We're getting off topic here as this is a football thread. There's actually only 8 adult hurling teams in Derry.

I think the only solution to improve levels throughout Ulster is to have leagues at the Ulster level instead of within each county. Grades could be assigned using league positions. Then teams go back to their own county championships.

Fair point on the football thread.

There's 9 adult hurling teams in Derry, though, although St Finbarr's still only compete in the reserve championship, Ulster League, etc. I can think of at least 5 clubs off the top of my head with underage hurling setups- so hopefully they can come through to senior in the next few years.

The Ulster League idea is a good idea- but it's alot of logistics.

Kilclief to Dungloe or Maullahoran to Coleraine would be near 4 hours each way. Obviously there's ways around this like meeting in the middle, but it would be no easy task.

What do u want Lavey to do? There only 10 teams in Derry, how do u sort out Senior,intermediate and junior of that number. Sure only 3/4 counties put in at senior, some just junior. Did Ballinascreen not get murdered down south in their game last year. For all the years of promoting hurling the GAA give up on hurling in the North. There just not enough hurling men in these counties. Derry should have 20 hurling clubs but there nobody in these stand alone fball clubs who played hurling.

Agree there's not enough clubs in Derry. Who is the 10th team, assuming you're counting St Finnbarr's as the 9th team?

There are several clubs which have hurling at underage, so hopefully in the next few years these eventually translate to senior teams.

The system probably isn't fair on other counties as has been demonstrated by Lavey this year, and Ballinascreen last year. I have been backing Lavey from before they even qualified for the junior, but I have heard people saying this year Cootehill and Cúchullains could have won it. Lavey were far too strong for both of those sides.

I was incredibly disappointed by Ballinascreen last year in the All Ireland Series- but the more I think about it the more I wonder was it a particularly bad day for them.

It is hard to begrudge Lavey, but it is difficult for the likes of Castlewellan or Glenravel, who are good junior teams, when they come up against teams that would win most senior championships in other counties. 

Ie, Lavey would probably win a Senior Championship in any Ulster county outside Antrim, Down, or Derry.

If Ulster GAA had to intervene, the solution would probably be to stick Na Magha and Coleraine into a junior final every year- but that obviously has massive flaws and wouldn't work.

The solution is 2-fold: we need to raise the overall standard of club hurling in Ulster, and we need more teams. It is not unfeasible that there could be 20 senior hurling teams in Derry in the next 10 years if the work was put in.

The big issue for Ulster Hurling is the likes of Derry and Donegal putting teams out that are going to trounce other teams.

This isn't to say that the Ulster Championship is dead- in the past decade teams from Derry, Donegal, Monaghan, Antrim, and Armagh have all won it.

But anybody saying that Lavey shouldn't be in Junior needs to have another look. Lavey gave Cuchulainns of Armagh a big beating today. Cuchailainns, the Armagh Intermediate Champions. Lavey maybe haven't won much in Derry in recent times, but it is only this year Slaughtneil overtook them on the role of honour, and they'd probably win most senior championships outside of Down, Derry, and Antrim.

On the flip side, it is concerning that our Ulster Champions are so uncompetitive on the Junior All Ireland scene. Eg, Ballinascreen were so dominant in Ulster last year, but got badly beat by the Cork Champions in the All Ireland.

Obviously, the key issue is we need to drastically improve the overall standard of hurling in Ulster. But that's a long term project.

We do need to improve the standard of our clubs in Down, ie, the likes of Derry Junior (Eoghan Rua or Na Magha, etc.) would be a better than Down Junior.

But, it is no good having our Junior teams getting big beatings. Castlewellan are probably the best junior team to come out of Down in a few years. They got a big enough beating off Burt. But as others have said, Burt are a strong team, who won the Donegal Senior Championship last year, and are in around the level of Bredagh, Carryduff, etc. I am fairly confident that Castlewellan would have beaten the Donegal Junior Champions, Letterkenny Gaels, by a similar score line that Burt beat Castlewellan.

We do need to improve the standard of hurling in Down (and Ulster) to catch up with the rest of Ireland, but I don't see the benefit of other counties putting Intermediate or Senior sides into the junior championship. As has been said, Down wouldn't put Ballycran into the Ulster Junior.

Find it hard to see past Lavey for Ulster Junior. It's been talked to death by now how the Derry setup leads to stronger clubs in Ulster. Cootehill may give them a game this weekend, but I still think it's Lavey's to lose.

Castlewellan are probably the strongest junior side to come out of Down in a few years, and hopefully will go on a bit of a run. Unfortunately would agree Burt will probably be too strong for Castlewellan. Burt were well beat in the Donegal Junior Final, so don't know how they've ended up in Ulster, but I would imagine it will be a stronger squad with some senior players making an appearance.

Cuchullains won an Armagh championship about 10 years ago, but have gone downhill it seems since. They were in the final a few years ago and were well beat by Middletown. They've been overtaken by Craobh Rua and Derrynoose it would seem. They should make the latter stages of Ulster, though.


Agree the winner of Liatroim/Glenariffe will be favourites for Ulster. The Oisins are very much on the up, and it is probably the hardest game Liatroim could have got. But they are probably saying the same thing up in Glenariffe. Ulster Intermediate is a great championship- feels like any of the teams could win it.

No reason Portaferry can't win the senior. Slaughtneil obviously a massive hurdle but Portaferry have established they are one of the top teams in Ulster.

Best of luck to Down's Donal Hughes and Dearbhla Magee today representing Ireland at the hurling/camogie-shinty in Inverness.

Whatever your thoughts on the competition, it's a great honour for anybody to represent their country.

Particularly great to see somebody from outside the traditional hurling stronghold of the Ards Peninsula get the nod and be included alongside the likes of players who have won plenty with the likes of Limerick, Kilkenny, and Tipperary.

Tonight is the start of the best weekend in the Down calendar- the hurling finals.

Probably the hardest game to call is the Junior Final tonight between Castlewellan and Kilclief. Kilclief won it in 2023, whilst Castlewellan are in their third final in four years if I'm not wrong. The two played in a dead rubber game in the last round of the championship, with Castlewellan winning by 4. I would expect the teams to look very different tonight.

Castlewellan will be looking to finally get the monkey off their backs and win a junior championship.

2022- lost to Warrenpoint in the final by a point.
2023- Were favourites but a shock loss to East Belfast in the round robin ultimately cost them a place in the final.
2024- Were favourites again but lost to Ballela in the final by four points.

Castlewellan will have looked at the progress the Point have made since winning their junior championship, and will feel as thought they need to break through this glass ceiling.

Kilclief came straight back down after their spell in the IHC, but they won't fear Castlewellan.

Castlewellan have plenty of good hurlers (and some very talented younger fellas who could make a name for themselves in the coming years), but to use an old adage, Kilclief just look like 'they have more hurling in them.'

Kilclief have some very good players, but I'm not sure if they have as great a spread in key positions as Castlewellan. Castlewellan seem to have solved some of the key issues they're had in previous years, notably, around the back line.

Both teams beat East Belfast comfortably in the championship. Castlewellan beat Ballyvarley comfortably enough, although Kilclief gave Ballyvarley a bad hiding.

It is difficult to call. I had originally thought Kilclief, but I think playing the football final last week could have taken a lot out of them, and I've a feeling now Castlewellan will get over the line.

Last year's junior final was probably the game of the weekend- hopefully there's similar quality tonight.



Tomorrow evening, Liatorim and Carryduff will contest the Intermediate Final.

Both teams will feel they are unlucky to be here and not in a senior semi final. Liatorim had the beating of Ballycran, whereas Carryduff will argue they would have beat Ballycran other than some contentious decisions. Regardless, both will find themselves in the SHC again in 2026, but they'll not be worrying about that this weekend.

This will be Carryduff's 6th Intermediate Final in a row I believe. They have lost the last 4- one of those to Liatroim. Carryduff have really improved in the last few years, and Liatorim seem to have regressed a little.

Nonetheless, Liatorim gave Carryduff a big enough beating in the round robin- 15 points I think.  Carryduff then had a relatively competitive game with Warrenpoint, whilst Liatorim beat Ballela off the field by 50 points. That is no small feat for any team in a championship game.

It will probably be a closer game this time, but I think everything is pointing towards a Liatroim victory. I'm sure last week's football defeat will have had an impact on Carryduff, and Liatorim, despite a shaky start, seem to have found their form again.

Carryduff are knocking on the door of being a top team, but I think that's still a few years away and Liatorim will have enough. Regardless, whoever comes out of Down could have a real stab at Ulster this year, so let's hope for the best.



The Senior Final on Sunday is probably, on paper, the easiest to call. Portaferry look to be well ahead of everyone else in Down at the moment, and probably have their eyes set on bigger prizes.

They beat Ballygalget by 5 in a dead rubber in the round robin, and comfortably beat everybody else en route to the final. They just seem to be well ahead of everybody.

Ballygalget put up some big scores themselves this year, and they will know the battles they will have to win on Sunday.

This has been a year of shocks in championships across Ireland- perhaps none bigger than the SHC result of our noisy neighbours , with St John's winning their first Senior Antrim Championship in 52 years- so I wouldn't be ruling out another shock.

Portaferry had the winning of Ulster last year, and Slaughtneil were very lucky to get over them in the Ulster Final. The winners on Sunday will play Slaughtneil in the first round of Ulster. I'd say that's a game Portaferry would like to sink their teeth into. With the Glens teams all eliminated from Antrim, Portaferry could very well taste blood in the water for this Ulster Championship- but let's take it one game at a time. There's a lot of hurling to be done before any talk of an Ulster Final.

Portaferry are going for their 4th Senior Championship in a row- something I don't think they've ever done before. Interestingly, the last time a team was going for 4 in a row was Ballygalget in 2006. Portaferry ended up the champions that year...

It will no doubt be a great game. Portaferry are a top side, and Ballygalget aren't far off, and are getting closer every year. It is certainly the 2 best teams in the county squaring off. Looking forward to it as a neutral.



As always, I would encourage anybody, connected to any of the clubs involved or not, to take a run down and see what the craic is. Should be 3 great games. It's hard to see any of the games this weekend being a case of one team dominating.

It is not Cork and Tipperary in the All Ireland- it is club hurling. There will be mistakes. Lads will drop sliotars. Shots will go wide. It's all part of it.

Down hurling is growing each year, with 2 clubs starting up hurling this year alone, and the standard seems to be improving.

The Junior Final between Kilclief Ben Dearg and Castlewellan is on tonight, in Páirc Esler, at 19:15.

The Intermediate Final between Liatroim Fontenoys and Carryduff is on tomorrow evening,  in Páirc Esler, at 17:00.

The Senior Final between Portaferry and Ballygalget is on Sunday afternoon, in Páirc  Esler, at 15:30.

All the finals will be broadcast on DownGAA TV, too.

If you've ever been curious about hurling, or wondered what all the craic is that we go on about here, and you've nothing else to do, why not take a run down and see some of it, or stick it on this evening or over the weekend? What else would you be at?

Best of luck to all the clubs, players, and management involved. Hopefully it will be a great weekend of hurling.

[Plenty of scope to grow hurling in Armagh in the coming years.]

How many hurling clubs are there in Armagh?

At senior level and (new) underage level?

To the best of my knowledge, there's 8 clubs offering hurling at the moment:

Middletown
Céide Lámh Dearg
Cúchulainn's, Armagh
Craobh Rua, Camlocha
Sean Tracey's, Lurgan
Killeavy
St Malachy's, Portadown
Derrynoose

Interestingly, 5 of those are hurling-only clubs, with only 3 dual clubs in the whole county.

As far as I'm aware, the only club in Armagh offering underage hurling outside these is Silverbridge.

Plenty of scope to grow hurling in Armagh in the coming years.

I think An Port Mór (Blackwater) has underage hurling.

Think there's a juvenile hurling club based in Benburb but it covers a rake of clubs in that area of Armagh/Tyrone. A lot of clubs amalgamate at underage for football and hurling is no different. Logistically a bit of a nightmare to get up and running

Didn't know A Port Mór offered hurling.

There is a club in Benburb- think they compete in Tyrone?

Difficult to maybe get clubs up and running, but well worth it for what they add and offer to communities.

How many hurling clubs are there in Armagh?

At senior level and (new) underage level?

To the best of my knowledge, there's 8 clubs offering hurling at the moment:

Middletown
Céide Lámh Dearg
Cúchulainn's, Armagh
Craobh Rua, Camlocha
Sean Tracey's, Lurgan
Killeavy
St Malachy's, Portadown
Derrynoose

Interestingly, 5 of those are hurling-only clubs, with only 3 dual clubs in the whole county.

As far as I'm aware, the only club in Armagh offering underage hurling outside these is Silverbridge.

Plenty of scope to grow hurling in Armagh in the coming years.

Keady really a dual club too but technically 2 separate clubs. Lot of work would need done to improve standards all round.

Always wondered what the story was in Keady with 2 clubs. Is it really a dual club with 2 separate clubs, 2 separate kits, etc.?

Are their many lads playing both? Surely it would be easier to have one club?

Understandably a lot of talk on Kilcoo and the Senior Football Championhip structure, but not a lot on Ardglass and Saval.

Thought Ardglass looked comfortable enough after the goal.

Was surprised how easily Saval put Annaclone away. Some very good players.

Could either of them give Ulster a rattle? How should they get on next year in their respective championships?

What's the basis for having Ballyholland and Saul as SFC teams when they were relegated to Division 2, and having Glenn as an IFC team after they were promoted to Division 1 and beat Ballyholland in the Championship?

Glenn are a senior team.

Glenn would not beat Clonoe, Coalisland or the Moy. I'm attempting to argue that there are too many teams competing in the senior and intermediate divisions.

I understand the point you're trying to make, but I would agree with Ranch and have Glenn in senior over Ballyholland or Saul (and Saval although I understand why you're including them after winning the Intermediate), as well as a lot of the other teams.

I don't know whether Glenn would beat Clonoe, Coalisland, or the Moy, but I assume they would win the Down Intermediate Championship comfortably on current form.