Antrim Hurling

[Minder]

Eastwoods Odds

Antrim 4/1 v Wexford 2/9

[girt_giggler]

Johnny Campbell out of the entire NHL apparently, his operation wasn't as successful as had been hoped

[slow corner back]

this arguement has been had many times. how many no. 11's have you ever seen clean him out? i think he is great in both positions, he offers scoring threat from midfield also, but who else should/could play CHB (and dont say johnny campbell).

Other potential CHBs Mickey McCambridge, Ciaran Herron,Malachy Molloy when available, or possibly young Hippy. I know young Donnelly is short of pace but he is great in the air and reads the game well when facing the ball. I would prefer him in full back but Neilly seems to be doing the business and deserves a go in there. From what I have heard so far the experiment with young Hippy at full forward has had mixed results.

[Guillem2]

I agree with your comments about young Hippy. Definity worth a try out at CHB.

The entries & gradings for the hurling leagues are on the web site.

http://www.antrimgaa.net/administration/grading-lists/

It's strange seeing Rossa & Ballycran listed as Div 2/3.

In the lower Divisions it looks like Mitchel's and Na Fuiseoige are gone but McDermots are back and St Bridget's are fielding in hurling for the first time.

[milltown row]

having seen Hippy close up on a couple of occasions, fullforward is not his position, fullback maybe, but his lack of pace could be exposed, what fullforward sits on the edge of the square now days.

karl was one of our best players in dublin last week and caught a lot of ball, Micky McCambridge didn't look fit at all when he came on was falling all over the show, and when Kettle came on he kept wacking his man till the referee booked him. from having a strong squad last year we are understrength this year, would do no harm in talking to big malloy and working out something that will suit timewise that his.

how are we to stop Wexfords game, they play very quick early ball into the forwards. a tactic that we are very poor on. watch tomorrows game and see how many times we run with the ball instead of getting up the pitch early.

is McGourty going to get a run out? would be strange seeing him there with a hurl in his hand

[nearlymad]

 Let the ball and stick do the work instead of the legs.Taught to us at a very early age but not often adhered to.

[Minder]

Let the ball and stick do the work instead of the legs.Taught to us at a very early age but not often adhered to.

beautiful words

[Minder]

When reading the preview of the game tommorow in the Irish News today it struck me and pissed me off to read another soccer analogy from Sambo, some drivel about players for Man Utd earning £100k a wk, i hate the way he feels the need to compare something in the premiership to the GAA. Sambo is always at it for some reason, perhaps he would rather be managing Carnlough United.

[theskull1]

Antrim beat Wexford 3-10 to 1-09 (might be wrong on the score)

Strange game but great result for Antrim. Wexford never looked at the races. Best performances from Delargy, Graffin, Herron, McManus & Stewart although on the whole most of the team did well. Karl Stewart would be my MOTM as he bagged two goals when up in the corner asd well as doing alot of foraging around midfield when brought out. I actually think that if that Antrim team believed in themselves a bit more they could cause a few more upsets.

On a negative note...although the game never really got going the crowd could and should have been a bit more vocal in their support as there was a great crowd

[slow corner back]

Agree with you about the crowd skull, I think it has been mentioned before but the noise at county games is pitiful compared to club matches. First half was quite scrappy and wexford seemed to have no real fight in the last 15 minutes. While some of Antrims hurling was not the classiest you will see at least the application and effort was present and the tackling from the front line was pretty good.

[Minder]

for who minder? anrim beat me in my bet last weekend, thought they would overcome a Dublin team that really didn't show after getting beat by Antrim last year.

i think Wexford -5 is a good bet going on last weeks game, but i'm not going to touch it.

antrim would be worth a small punt,but a very small one. Home advantage is certainly an advantage for us,but we are not good enough to beat them if both teams play to potential. There is always a chance you will catch them on an off day

milltown you should have listened, minder knows best, i took my own advice and stuck a fiver on them at 4/1

[Minder]

I think the issue with the crowd is easily explained, people generally do not care as much about how the county teams fortunes compared to their own club, many go to see the opposition especially if we are playing a team such as cork,waterford etc

[slow corner back]

You are certainly right about the club  county thing Minder but is that the case in all counties? In some county matches there seem to be a great atmosphere but not at antrims

[Minder]

So in the likely event if we finish the campaign with just todays victory we will be relegated?

[NAG]

Will more than likely come down to scores with Dublin but on yesterdays performace id fancy them to give Wexford a pasting.

Has anyone actually ever seen a southern side so pityful in their approach to a serious game?

I thought they were completely lack luster all over the field. Id say 2 maybe three of their players we even close to the pace of the game.

As to Antrim it is so hard to say anything positive, Liam Watson was the only palyer on Antrims side that looked genuine county standard.

Ryan's pucks out where coming down with snow on them and left it very easy for the half backs to come through and block the ball down, that type of ball always favours the defender. The fuol back line was probably the most consistent line on the field, although Jacob did give graffin a hard time for most of the game.

Half back Karl was shakey to start but came into the game abd had a solid if not spectacular game, along with heron. McCambridge over played the ball on numerous occasions with short handpasses against a more 'up for it' team would have been punished severly.

MIdfield was bypassed for most of the game and in the second half we came out on the wrong side of most of the breaking ball in this sector.

Half forwards, Liam watson was the class act on show and suprisingly for him was willing to pass the ball to others around him, he was supported well by McMauns who was strong at different times in the game but with a more settled head could use the ball better. Magill was non existant for most of the game, drifted in and out of the play and go dominated under the ball.

Full forward line was poor enough in my estimation, nipper quinn was hooked on several occasions we he planted his feet to hit the ball. Young donnelly is exactly that young, he had the ball in his hand once in the entire 70mins of hurling when he just had to pass the ball into the net which he failed to do. This is def not working for him and I think he is only warming the positon until the return of richmond. Karl Stweart flatters to decieve the whole time, he did pounce on the goal well in the first half and the second was reached to him, but IMO i think you need more from a corner forward in terms of attacking threatening play.

I dont mean to sound negative but I know that I have, a win is a win is a win as they say. But i think we have to qualify that with the poor poor standard of wexford yesterday.