Antrim Hurling

[Milltown Row2]

Yeah I'd say they are sore alright and it's a lot to do with who ya get sometimes..

Look for all the hype we have on 'our teams' one team has one it twice while the rest haven't won one, the record isn't as good as you think either NAG1.

With the amount of titles Cushendall have they only reached one final. Hurling wise people look at the stick work, but hurling is more than wristy hurling with great stick work, putting the ball over the bar or in the back of the net is what's required to win the game, but I'll concede that the stylish hurling has been done by other teams.

S'neil have had our number for a good few years in Ulster and that dominance 5 in 8 years is a decent return against the best in Antrim and Down, for a football club 

[NAG1]

Yeah I'd say they are sore alright and it's a lot to do with who ya get sometimes..

Look for all the hype we have on 'our teams' one team has one it twice while the rest haven't won one, the record isn't as good as you think either NAG1.

With the amount of titles Cushendall have they only reached one final. Hurling wise people look at the stick work, but hurling is more than wristy hurling with great stick work, putting the ball over the bar or in the back of the net is what's required to win the game, but I'll concede that the stylish hurling has been done by other teams.

S'neil have had our number for a good few years in Ulster and that dominance 5 in 8 years is a decent return against the best in Antrim and Down, for a football club 

Comes back to the big debate on the physicality aspect vs the hurling. Now don't get me wrong SN improved hurling wise over the years and definitely progressed. But their big advantage was their physicality and fitness.

Everyone going to have their opinion on it and that's the beauty of it.

[NorthAntrimSaff]

Has anyone a spare few mins to research their semi final defeats. Sarsfields, Ballygunner and Ballyhale are 3 i remember? Beat by 1 by sars. Five by Gunner and remember they gave Ballyhale a right fright

[Milltown Row2]

Has anyone a spare few mins to research their semi final defeats. Sarsfields, Ballygunner and Ballyhale are 3 i remember? Beat by 1 by sars. Five by Gunner and remember they gave Ballyhale a right fright

They had Ballyhale beat in Newry but by god the big Ballyhale players stood up and that was that, was their best chance to get there (Of winning an All Ireland ) I felt.. Sarsfields was a poor enough game to lose.. Gunner have really underperformed, I know they have one but not as a bad as the Thurles team of a few years ago, so losing by 5 to Ballygunner wasn't a surprise

[SaffronOak]

They are a very very good team though. I really wish Antrim had a forward(or player) of the ability of Brendan Rodgers and even a defender as good as O'Mannion (spelling). That said their inability to make any dent on the AI series maybe shows they're not quite as good as that.

You're joking, right? Just off the top of my head and without much thought, for Brendan Rogers read Keelan Molloy.  For O'Mainian read Pa Burke.

While the two you named are exceptional players, don't overhype them to the point where we couldnt match them.  We can, we have, some would argue that Molloy would be a step beyond Rogers also given his versatility shown at club and county level while Pa Burke has been outstanding for club and county for the last 5 if not 6 years - less so this year for county but there werent may who shone this year in saffron.

[imtommygunn]

You're right on Burke tbf but Rodgers I am not sure you're right on. Molloy is very good but Rodgers for me is above what we have...

[Na Glinntí Glasa]

Sneill are a formidable team still. I do feel they have fell short at the all Ireland semi final stage as they have been beat by better teams. Simple as that.

I was the Ballyhale game and yes they gave them their fill they didn't look to have enough to push on beyond them. For all the energy that day Ballyhale found another gear and up stepped Colin Fennelly to fire home a goal. Killed the game straight away.

For sure a very talented group of players and they will def feel that they should and could have reached an all Ireland final at this stage. But as has been proven, especially on our end, you still need to be better than every other team in Ireland, and get a degree of luck on your side, to claim the Tommy Moore Cup.

Brendan Rodgers is a joy to watch on the pitch regardless.

[imtommygunn]

Ballygunner and Ballyhale are two formidable teams. The players they have at their disposal are ridiculous so no shame in not beating them.

[Milltown Row2]

Hopefully the Johnnies will have a few good challenge games at the ready, difficult to get this time of year as some club teams have downed tools and would be a struggle to get ones out, the college teams probably best at looking for that in prep for their match..

I'm sure when they stop drinking next month week, they will be at it again

[johnnycool]

First things first, Portaferry's inexperience and naivety was the reason they didn't beat SN last year.

They had SN on the rack for much of the first half and failed to get a goal near the end of it that would have given them clear daylight between both teams. Big Niall M in FF took a great pass and with only the keeper to beat didn't move his feet and allowed the keeper to smother the shot. Contrast that to how Neil McManus moved around in the semifinal in a similar position until he got the shot away.
Secondly when one goal goes in against you, you need to kill momentum one way or the other, start a bit of pushing and shoving, tie your laces or whatever. Gives you time to get reorganised. Pierce Smyth couldn't get the ball pucked out fast enough for whatever reason, Ports didn't rectify and reorganise their defence and left the middle wide open for the second goal.
Thirdly Ports have an issue winning clean ball from their own puckouts, either long or short and rely heavily on the Sands brothers winning the breaks. Pierce Smyth can strike a ball some distance from a puckout but is terrible at the short ones, even to a corner back, let alone a half back. SN played a lot deeper and won a lot of those balls in the second half.

They may be hot favourites to get out of Down as we don't have enough wherewithal to expose them yet and don't help ourselves with lads picking up injuries along the way, and depending on how the Ports line out on Sunday they may have solved one of those issues by playing CT at fullback and Matt Conlon at centre back, but with Tom McGrattan out with a cruciate they are a bit lighter up front and that could be their undoing.

For us to beat them on Sunday we'll need an awful lot to go right for us and for them to misfire, which isn't beyond the realms, but that's my heart and not my head.

One things for sure the days of the Antrim final being the defacto Ulster final is gone.

On the SN AI semi-final record, they were fierce unlucky last year v Cork Sarsfields.

Shay McGuigan was out of sorts on the frees, Jack O'Connor should have seen a straight red all day long and how the lad missed the open goal right at the death I'll never know, well I do, he was lying backwards and never got over the ball, but he was only 8 yards out...
That's a sickener in anyones book.

The other few times, they were playing what I'd call generational club teams in Ballyhale and Ballygunner and did admirably on them as well, not to mention the time they had NaPairsigh of Limerick on the rack for the keeper to have a pure nightmare 5 minute spell to let NaPairsigh off the hook.

They've never let anyone down at this level.