Antrim Hurling

[Balboa]

Developing talent at schools is important.

However for all St Mary's success from the late 90s / early 2000s it doesn't appear to have progressed Belfast hurling as much as you would have thought it would.

I was going to mention that too, St Marys & Maghera have won the majority of Mageeans in last 15 years. Bar Derrys shock U-21 win this year it hasnt translated to club/county.

[imtommygunn]

I would attribute part of their success to their pick as well though.

St Pats Maghera has basically the whole of south derry plus more to be honest as you see dungiven and banagher boys at that school so in essence it has players from every hurling club in derry.

CBS probably has the pick of the Belfast clubs. There is La Salle and a few others that get small numbers of players.

Garron Tower really only has Cushendall ,and just for you Balboa, and Glenariff as hurling strongholds. You could argue small picks of Cushendun / Ballycastle. Cross and Passion would have Ballycastle and some of Loughgiel - though I've never heard of too many Dunloy boys there. St Louis should have Dunloy and Loughgiel and a few Cushendall ones. In each of those three schools you can see a split between clubs which you can't see anywhere near as much of in South Derry or Belfast.

However even so you would have expected more from the Belfast clubs with their schools success.

[imtommygunn]

Ah, no silage to cut or ewes to rear, that explains it...

[SimpleSimon]

Max, where did you play that day against eion Kelly? I was play/there that day too! He was the best man on the field by a longshot and his free taking was unreal!

[slow corner back]

With regard to CPC winnning one mageean in 15 years you have to remember that CPC is a comprehensive and most kids leave at 16 meaning the Mageean team is made up of about 5 18 yr olds 5 17 yr olds and the rest u-16. A serious disadvantage in under age hurling of any grade I remember loosing a mageean semi final to St Pats Armagh who could not hurl but were all built like brick shithouses and basically bullied our 16 yr olds on a pissing wet day in corrigan. Look at CPCs results at Forresters cup level and you will find they are there or thereabouts every year.

[ONeill]

Loughgiel bridesmaids again.

[Balboa]

They will have to find another forward or two to help Winker out or they will never win it.

[Guillem2]

They bottled it again. They started off very nervous as you would expect from a team who had lost 4 finals in a row but when they settled they pulled themselves into the game and went in at half time a point up.
In the second half Dunloy took every chance they got and Shamrock's didn't take theirs. Some of the misses were shocking!
Dunloy deserved to win on the day but it was also there for the taking for Loughgiel.

[orangeman]

Well done to Dunloy - there'll be a lot of happy men in the village tonight - hard luck to Loughiel

[Balboa]

They bottled it again. They started off very nervous as you would expect from a team who had lost 4 finals in a row but when they settled they pulled themselves into the game and went in at half time a point up.
In the second half Dunloy took every chance they got and Shamrock's didn't take theirs. Some of the misses were shocking!
Dunloy deserved to win on the day but it was also there for the taking for Loughgiel.

I dont agree that they "bottled it", in the first half they were doing well to stick with Dunloy, and were doing so in the main with Watsons frees. Molloy nullified Watson in the 2nd half and Dunloy cut out the silly frees. At the end of the day Loughguile did not have the forwards to help Watson out, there was no way Watson was going to win the game on his own. Some of the Loughguile players seemed very young, Numbers 5, 7 & 12 seemed very light physically, and i suppose this experience will stand to them. Dunloy were getting their scores easier. How they kept Barney Mc Auley on Ally Elliott for so long was a mystery, you could see from the first couple of balls he was in trouble. Was impressed with Dunloys shooting, they hardly hit a wide. I actually thought Loughguile kept going well until the end, i dont think they fell down psychologically, they just didnt have the personnel. On a side issue i thought the two Dunloy supporters bringing on a large banner saying " 5 in a row, ha ha ha" was classy. That is the kind of soccer shite that should be stamped out of the GAA at every oppurtunity. Dunloy should not have too many problems in Ulster now. Some achievement from Dick, Ally winning 10 championships,was that Patch Mullans 10th too??

[orangeman]

That banner was in very poor taste and I'd say that won't be the last you'll hear on that subject !

[Maximus Marillius]

Went up ro the football game and stayed to watch the hurling. I thought that L'gulie were unable to match Dunloy in the physical aspects of ball winning in the middle sector of the pitch. Even thou they still managed to be 1 up at half time. The trend continued in the second half with Watson now being man marked and with Dunloy dominating in the physical aspects they continued to be unable to get any quality ball in to their inside line. Physically the number 5 and 12 were very weak. Dunloy targetted the number 5 for most of their puck outs whilst he was on. Watson was a one man show and was easily for me the stand out player on the pitch from open play and frees. Dunloy were worth much more than their 1 goal win an why they took off Elliot with 5 minutes to go was very puzzling. The man marking him needs to learn to be nasty as nice corners backs get exactly he got today...cleaned out. The l'guile 3, 6 and 11 were very dominate, but in the cruil positions of 8 and 9 Dunloy lorded it. from watching the game L'guile will not win the title untill they have a more physically type of player introduced to their team.

Now this is only from a lad whose main interest is in football...so feel free to tell me to shut up.

[Ruairi Og exile]

Dont think Loughgiel bottled it today..they just werent good enough & thats cos they dont have the hurlers. One man show up front & relying heavily on Johnny Campbell who hurled well at the back. Other than the full back or Eddie McCloskey at midfield they were poor & depended heavily on Watson...who was very dangerous in the first half. Dunloy came out flying at the start of the second half & that was the differance especially when Ally Elliott got the goal

On the banner issue, maybe not right...but you could argue that the Loughiel supporter tooting their airhorns when the St Galls captain was making his speech completely out of order & showed a total lack of respect & most importantly manners!!

[Owenmoresider]

On a side issue i thought the two Dunloy supporters bringing on a large banner saying " 5 in a row, ha ha ha" was classy. That is the kind of soccer shite that should be stamped out of the GAA at every oppurtunity.

On that subject, I was looking at the website of St. Pat's (the Louth SFC champions), and I seen in their pictures on the onfield scenes after the game, a group of Pat's fans had this tribute to their neighbours Cooley (NB who haven't won it since 1990, do the maths):

[Balboa]

On the banner issue, maybe not right...but you could argue that the Loughiel supporter tooting their airhorns when the St Galls captain was making his speech completely out of order & showed a total lack of respect & most importantly manners!!

The point i was making about the banner is it is the kind of shite you would see in an English football match, that somehow passes for humour. I wasnt bothered who won today but you have to feel sorry for fellas like Johhny Campbell, Winker etc that have been there for all 5, busting your balls from the new year every year and for it to end in defeat & 5 minutes after losing seeing two clowns that probably wouldnt know what end of a hurl to use coming on with a banner like that. Put it like this it has probably set a precedent & we will see more and more of it.