Antrim Hurling

[NAG1]

point take with no of teams, but i would try the groups system or home and away like before to get the the no of games up

dual clubs mightn't like it, but we need some more games.

even include the down teams or Derry.

whats the story with Gallagher MR2, no doubt he consulted with you first

First off you cant have teams from outside the county competing in the Antrim Championship.

The group system was tried before and lead to at least 1 maybe 2 of the games within the group being meaningless due to the lack of competitiveness, dont see that having changed overly much in the past 5-6 years.

[Milltown Row2]

point take with no of teams, but i would try the groups system or home and away like before to get the the no of games up

dual clubs mightn't like it, but we need some more games.

even include the down teams or Derry.

whats the story with Gallagher MR2, no doubt he consulted with you first

First off you cant have teams from outside the county competing in the Antrim Championship.

The group system was tried before and lead to at least 1 maybe 2 of the games within the group being meaningless due to the lack of competitiveness, dont see that having changed overly much in the past 5-6 years.

Exactaly NAG1. So a possible solution would be this. The top four teams play in a group and the lesser teams play in a group, home and away games, first half played early in season. Whoever tops the top teer group goes straight into the final. The rest play in a qualifier stage against the lesser group winners.

So If Ballycastle, Dunloy, Loughgiel and Cushendall played in a group  and say Loughgiel win that group they are in the final.

Top Teer.
1.Loughgiel
2.Cushendall
3.Dunloy
4.Ballycastle

Second Teer.   
1.Rossa
2.Glenarriffe
3.Naomh Gall
4.St Johns

Third Teer.
1.Lamhs
2.Gortnamona
3.Sarsfields
4.Carey

Lamhs play Ballycastle in playoff , winners play Cushendall
So in the Quarters we have:


      Rossa V Dunloy      Ballycastle V Cushendall     

And the semis could be

Cushendall V Rossa

Winners play Loughgiel in final.

Jeez that give me a sore head working that out!!!!!

Probably not great but the more meaningful games the better.

Was there not a year that the div one league ran something similar and Loughgiel nearly got relegated and the format was changed the following year? Think it was Dall Dunloy final that year.

[the colonel]

Why do Ballycastle get into the top tier. Sure St Johns beat them the other day! 

[Milltown Row2]

Why do Ballycastle get into the top tier. Sure St Johns beat them the other day! 

And we beat Dunloy last year FFS and canny get to the quartes this year!!

Only flaw would be that the likes of Carey, Gorts and Sarsfields may not want to be in Senior championship when the chance to do well at Intermediate is a bigger incentive

[NAG1]

I like the thought process MR2 but again I think even the first group stage at the top level would have alot of the teams playing cards close to their chest and maybe not wanting to give too much away.

Think we need a drive to get a 12 team top division, with at least 9 of the Antrim teams being competitive, so what ever it takes to get the likes of St Johns Rossa, Glenariffe et al up to the next rung should be the priority IMO.

The league could then be used to seed the draw, making each match as far as is possible having some meaning. St Johns vs Ballycastle last game of the league to avoid playing LG in the first round? Just a though but it might be a way of increasing the competitiveness of some of the League games while providing decent preparation for the Championship.

[Milltown Row2]

I like the thought process MR2 but again I think even the first group stage at the top level would have alot of the teams playing cards close to their chest and maybe not wanting to give too much away.

Think we need a drive to get a 12 team top division, with at least 9 of the Antrim teams being competitive, so what ever it takes to get the likes of St Johns Rossa, Glenariffe et al up to the next rung should be the priority IMO.

The league could then be used to seed the draw, making each match as far as is possible having some meaning. St Johns vs Ballycastle last game of the league to avoid playing LG in the first round? Just a though but it might be a way of increasing the competitiveness of some of the League games while providing decent preparation for the Championship.

County can't be blamed here and they can only run a Championship with the permission of the clubs, so the clubs need to talk, clubs need to settle on ideas of how they see it best to develop antrim club hurling and not worry about their own interest first off.

A bedding in of two years would be required to see if their are any flaws that could be fixed to improve it.

Effectively the current club championship could be run off in 4 weeks.

If we push for a bigger league then it could run like this, all the teams (antrim teams) play each other once the league, then it is divided into two groups depending on how you faired. The top four (of each group) at the end of the league go into the Quarter finals (seeded some way) so top team plays bottom team of the second group and so on and so on. Meaningful games to the end. the rut of the litters play of in a relegation playoff

[manballandall]

I have always believed the Down teams benefit to the detriment of some antrim teams by playing in our first division....We should encourage more antrim teams to play in Division one by increasing the league to accomadate the likes of Rossa, glenariff and st galls. Could only be good for antrim hurling to do this

[NAG1]

I have always believed the Down teams benefit to the detriment of some antrim teams by playing in our first division....We should encourage more antrim teams to play in Division one by increasing the league to accomadate the likes of Rossa, glenariff and st galls. Could only be good for antrim hurling to do this

How do you work this out when the three down teams are fit to beat the 3 teams you have mentioned on a regular basis?
Replacing these three teams for teams of a weaker standard is not the way to improve the overall standard of the league!

[manballandall]

I didnt mention replacing them...increasing the league is what i said.

[NAG1]

I didnt mention replacing them...increasing the league is what i said.

How is it detrimental then? When some of the Div2 Antrim teams cant get to their level then?

[Milltown Row2]

I didnt mention replacing them...increasing the league is what i said.

How is it detrimental then? When some of the Div2 Antrim teams cant get to their level then?

Ok you two!! Yes NAG1 you're right is some respects about the Down teams in Div 1. They bring competitive games to the league, though in the last few years they have been on the wane, Johnneycool will confirm this, as will the league standings over the past few seasons.

I don't believe that Rossa ourselves and Glenariffe would get hammered every week in the div one league, yes it would be a toss up between these teams as to who be relegated but at least these teams would be playing at a higher level and in 2/3 seasons would be more competitive and competing better and maybe win a game or two in the championship.

Having more Antrim teams playing at a higher level will help the County team in the end, the flip side to this could be that the standard may drop within the league due to the initially poorer teams but it will take a while for these teams to improve their training and standard of play in Div 1. To stop the standard dropping in the league would be to make the league part of Championship so that the games will always be played at a higher tempo as this will determine the standings come Championship.

[CitySlicker11]

As has been mentioned already to improve the overall standard of our championship, leagues and county team we must make our league meaningful and then expose as many Antrim hurlers to this as possible, yes Antrim, not Down. I agree that with a 10 or 12 team Div1 there would certainly be the odd hammering match, but as Milltown pointed out, those teams on their day would still be capable of claiming enough points to remain safe in Div 1. If the league was attached to the championship then league matches would have that extra bit of bite and improve the over all standard.

Div 2 could be linked to the intermediate championship and Div 3 linked to the junior championship. Why not give it a go, one match in August each year does not satisfy a senior hurler.

[oisinog]

As has been mentioned already to improve the overall standard of our championship, leagues and county team we must make our league meaningful and then expose as many Antrim hurlers to this as possible, yes Antrim, not Down. I agree that with a 10 or 12 team Div1 there would certainly be the odd hammering match, but as Milltown pointed out, those teams on their day would still be capable of claiming enough points to remain safe in Div 1. If the league was attached to the championship then league matches would have that extra bit of bite and improve the over all standard.

Div 2 could be linked to the intermediate championship and Div 3 linked to the junior championship. Why not give it a go, one match in August each year does not satisfy a senior hurler.

We need to look at how the championship is run. The problem with the league is some of the bigger division 1 clubs do not take it seriously.

If we tied the championship into the league as some people are suggesting then some clubs would not play any championship games at all.

There will be the logistical nightmare for dual clubs who will not have all there best hurlers available due to football commitment. There will also be the problems with county players not always available.

We need to do a review on the championship and the clubs need to take the league more serious.

[saffron89]

getting to the stage were its only the shams and the dall that could mess about abit.  I reckon throw them into one big group.  From what i have seen this year it would benefit Oisins / Galls/ rossa.  on their given day they could beat any one.

is the antrim u21 final with derry in Casement, might make it up to it, if we all went we would probably have a fair idea of who each person is.

[Two Hands FFS]

As has been mentioned already to improve the overall standard of our championship, leagues and county team we must make our league meaningful and then expose as many Antrim hurlers to this as possible, yes Antrim, not Down. I agree that with a 10 or 12 team Div1 there would certainly be the odd hammering match, but as Milltown pointed out, those teams on their day would still be capable of claiming enough points to remain safe in Div 1. If the league was attached to the championship then league matches would have that extra bit of bite and improve the over all standard.

Div 2 could be linked to the intermediate championship and Div 3 linked to the junior championship. Why not give it a go, one match in August each year does not satisfy a senior hurler.

We need to look at how the championship is run. The problem with the league is some of the bigger division 1 clubs do not take it seriously.If we tied the championship into the league as some people are suggesting then some clubs would not play any championship games at all.

There will be the logistical nightmare for dual clubs who will not have all there best hurlers available due to football commitment. There will also be the problems with county players not always available.

We need to do a review on the championship and the clubs need to take the league more serious.

Cushendall are unbeaten. Loughgiel are a point or so behind after a long winter. Dunloy are starting to pick up points after a bad start. What do you suggest the two 2 do??