Antrim Hurling

[milltown row]

he was, but never did anything when he had the ball, good defending when ya give man ball and still be able to take it off him, you should appreciate that minder

that will only hinder them in the next round. big difference come Ulster, we brought on CJ and he scored two wonderfull scores, ya need a great bench now, not Jackie

[imtommygunn]

I don't think you could say looking at the minor roll of honour that Cushendall have nothing coming through...

In saying that they did have 3 goalies on their sub bench which is strange and would say they're maybe struggling for squad numbers.

Talking of youth I didn't notice that brick fella on the bench and he looked like a great prospect - where is he?

Cushendall are a very good team but they do lack a "focal point" in their FF line. This was possibly why they brought on Jackie I thought. I wonder ho many medals he has now - bound to be a brave haul.

I couldn't see Dungiven beating that Cushendall team. I know Loughgiel were poor but that looks like a very capable Cushendall team. The defense is very solid and Paddy Magill / Shane McNaughton look to be maturing into good forwards. McNaughton still does waste a lot of ball but he'll win so much with his pace / movement he'll make up for it.

[maxpower]

Like most posters I was dissapointed with the final, where was all the loughgiel aggression we saw in semi. They played like a team with more a fear of defeat than a desire to win. Loughgiel are very dependant on jc eddie and winker, none of whom where able to contribute significantly.

Overall the dall where convincing winners and won every battle perhaps none more obvious than on the sidelines. A terrific defence with scullion incredibly under rated at full back, elliotts point was thee class moment of game and graffin and mcmanus were excellent.  Cushendall went in strong in centre field and it proved decisive.

I thought shane mc naughton was the match winner, 6 points from play and kept the scoreboard ticking over at vital, no doubt had Watson managed that he. Would have got man of match

Actually think ref did just ok, he blew a fair few times when there was no advantage to having a free, the one where dd was just about to drive a long one from the hand and he gave a free slowed the game down and allowed the dall to get organised. Also baffled by the yellow card for hitting waterboy, I didn't see but if he hit it's red if he didn't it's nothing! But to be fair didn't get much wrong

[Arthur_Friend]

Feel sorry for Loughguile....6 finals in a row!

Wasn't at the game....what was the incident with the waterboy?

[Minder]

Feel sorry for Loughguile....6 finals in a row!

Wasn't at the game....what was the incident with the waterboy?

I didnt see what happened but by all accounts Neil mc Garry the Loughguile FB punched him in the gob. I think "waterboy" was Mickey Mc Manus.

[imtommygunn]

I think waterboy took a dive...

I think McGarry put his hand on his face and pushed it away. Glad he didn't get sent off for it to be honest. The waterboy should have been put outside the wire though.

[theskull1]

So why is that Loughgiel have equited themselves well when they have played Dunloy in finals yet roll over and die against the likes of Cushendall and Rossa?

[Minder]

So why is that Loughgiel have equited themselves well when they have played Dunloy in finals yet roll over and die against the likes of Cushendall and Rossa?

Its hard to say Skull, a problem they seem to have in a physical contest is they will come off second best. Take young Campbell at #11 yesterday, he could turn out to be a good player but he is very slight. Another problem is scoring forwards, i think they had Tony Mc Cluskey/Mc Killop (not sure of surname) who is an excellent prospect but he is a back and was playing forwards yesterday. Im not sure if there were any mental scars yesterday, they just dont have the players but due to the poor quality of hurling in Antrim at the minute they will probably be in the final again for the next few years.

[maxpower]

So why is that Loughgiel have equited themselves well when they have played Dunloy in finals yet roll over and die against the likes of Cushendall and Rossa?

Strange alright, the green and gold seems to bring out the bite in them, which was badly missing yesterday

[Two Hands FFS]

The waterboy took a dive...may have looked like like he was punched. Those supporters chanting those songs...just pissheads, who started drinking about lunchtime.As been said on here before..every club has them.

On to the hurling, I thought Loughgiel had improved this year,obviously not, they looked very flat..but bottom line is they have too many average hurlers....every good club team has 1 maybe 2 average players...Loughgiel have 5/6. All the talk about Loughgiels workrate..Cushendall's workrate was superb...their discipline excellent..Only 3(or4) points from frees is very good regardless of how poor the opposition was.

All the talk on here/general public was how Loughgiel were going to win, some people seemed to forget the talent in the Cushendall team..McManus,Graffin, Magill, Shane, Karl...they are very talented hurlers. Minder, I thought Brian Delargy had a good game, scored two good points, tackled very well...alot of stuff that went unnoticed.

[NAG]

The sad thing about loughgiel is that there will be more than enough people in the village who are happy enough to get beat yesterday as long as Dunloy didnt win.

The thing is that they have no one to look to as a leader, Watson good player but not a guy you would look to, to win you a tight championship game.

Dunloy Cushendall would have been a better final, cushendall must have been loving the build up sitting back and waiting on a half crocked team coming at them that couldnt win a raffle in casment.

Begs the question is this the handiest championship ever won? Not that they will care in cushendall.

[milltown row]

listen to the snobs on here, no chanting or 'scoccer' stlye Ole's, i'd be more worried about the standard of the games, bored fans making a bit of craic was all that was. the games were done and dusted early on.

as for Cushendall they won all the key  areas, played the right men in the key positions and choked Loughgiels game plan. the intensity was gone, though predicted before the game. 

for Cushendall it's about time they made the breakthrough, no more good defeats, they have not peaked this year and won yesterday in second gear, time for some serious stamina training, i believe Micky Culbert is doing that at the minute and no better drill instructor.

workout how to get those vital goals and the Dall will make a fist of it

[maxpower]

thought so myself hardstation, also reading the irish news they seemed to think that loughgiel had put the ball in the net and the ref somehow disadvantaged them, i might be wrong but i didn't think it was a goal.

Also declan mckillop may well have been pulled down in the box in the second half

Agree with MR that Cushendall really need to make a push on at the AllIreland stage, its Munster competition this year for Ulster (which is no gimme for the dall) so it will be difficult but the potential is there

[milltown row]

Connacht,    Leinster, or Munster it does not really matter where they come from, to stay away from the Ballyhales or James Stephens of theis world or the Portumna's aint a bad thing. though the Munster teams will always be tough.

as for the penalty, well peoples views were different on it where i was standing, made no difference in terms of the game. 

the water boy went down very easy it was a case of hand on face and pushed. kid should not have been near there anyway, should have got the line for interfering. somebody asks for a drink of water ya give it to him, county final or not. you'd have smaked him yourself for being cheeky

[groundlie]

Tis smee.

Boy, a boys, a boys!

A very poor game witnessed today.  Lougheil, appeared to be  washed out following on from their superb performance against Dunloy.  Watson and McCloskey, were certainly a great loss.  Having said that, fair play to Cushendall, they performed well and were certainly the better team on the day!  Good luck to them.

The referee, despite all ye begrudgers and whingers prejudging the referee during the course of last week should be ashamed of yourselves.  In my opinion the referee had a great game. He let the game flow where possible and controlled the game throughout.  Fair play to him also!

Why is it, ye fellas are always very quicjk to blow your mouths off and criticise others who are doing their bit for the Association, County and the game of hurling?  You really should think twice and engage the brains before the gobs!  I doubt some of ye guys (big women) would be man enough to take whistle in hand and put yourselves in the black & green position in a juvenile game, never mind a All County Hurling Final.  Shame on ye all.  Let this type of claptrap, character assassination and abuse and passing judgement on a good referee cease!

Remember, I could be watching ye in the futrue, but I doubt an of ye are man enough for the refereeing role!

Assessor, you really are a ballbag