Antrim Hurling

[NAG]

I have to say that cushendall missed there chance big time yesterday. It did come down to a lack of scoring power as was suggested on here numerous times.

The switch of SD to half forward didnt work although he did compete better than most in that area. DmcK did very very little up until the sending off which IMO didnt really affect the game overall. Cushendall had to get the next score after Shanes goal and if I am correct it wasnt to be. McManus showed his quality and if it hadnt been for him then cushendall would have struggled to anything goin forward. I know it is very hard to criticise at this point but when you look back at a couple of chances AD had at the start of the game less that 45 out and pretty central and both dropped short to the keeper. Very costly.

I have to say that they battled very hard and worked like demons but they didnt have that ruthless edge to their game when it comes to the big time matches.

[glens abu]

bad luck Cushendall very unluckly you did Antrim hurling proud

[johnneycool]

All-Ireland club SHC: Deise men sneak past Cushendall


De La Salle (Waterford) 1-21
Cushendall (Antrim) 1-19
(After Extra-Time)

By Cóilín Duffy

First time Waterford and Munster champions De La Salle secured an All-Ireland Club SHC Final berth at the first-time of asking after an 81st minute John Mullane point ensured a two-point victory after extra-time in an epic semi-final against Antrim's Cushendall.

This Parnell Park encounter was cast in the shadows of the other semi-final in the lead up to this weekend's action - Portumna and James Stephens at Semple Stadium billed as a potential classic, yet it was De La Salle and Cushendall who provided the best wine.

End to end hurling with some fine excellent scores in a game which was allowed flow freely, and a red card for Cushendall's Declan McKillop in the 43rd minute the only dent on an otherwise spectacular encounter.

There wasn't a body left in Cushendall such was their strength in numbers from early afternoon, while a De La Salle special train provided by Iarnrod Éireann was also a sell-out. This ensured a bumper crowd at the Donnycarney venue.

And the Waterford city faithful certainly had much to shout about in the early stages with Dean Twomey setting the early tone after he bagged the opening score, a well-worked goal after four minutes to give De La Salle an early lead.

De La Salle continued to dominate possession in the opening quarter, and although they had amassed four wides before the interval, they held a deserved 1-4 to 0-4 lead by the 21st minute, with Cushendall keeping in touch through Karl McKeegan, Neil McManus and Sean Delargy.

With four minutes remaining in the opening half Twomey's early goal continued to separate the sides but De La Salle were marooned in the closing stages as a trio of points for Cushendall including a Karl McKeegan brace levelled the tie at 0-9 to 1-6 at the interval.

Tempers began to heat up a little bit on the resumption with yellow cards shown to Cushendall's McKillop and Bryan Phelan of De La Salle inside the first minute.

McKillop would see a red card 12 minutes later, but in the interim his side showed well and thanks to a fourth McKeegan point, and a 37th minute Shane McNaughton goal - the Glensmen took a 1-10 to 1-7 advantage.

But they were forced to battle bravely for the remainder of normal time as Bryan Phelan's scoring exploits from placed balls continued to yield positively for the first-time semi-finalists.

However a Neil McManus score edged Cushendall into a two-point lead with three minutes remaining, but with Daniels and Phelan on target De La Salle secured extra-time at 1-14 apiece.

Both sides continued to be well matched in the first period of extra-time as the sides traded point for point until the 66th minute before De La Salle broke away with scores from Lee Hayes and Mullane to ensure a 1-18 to 1-16 interval lead.

Cushendall responded well on the restart, outscoring their opponents by two points to one inside five minutes, but De La Salle weren't to be denied an All-Ireland final berth and a late 81st minute Mullane point secured victory.

De La Salle - S Brenner; A Kelly, I Flynn, M Doherty; D Russell, K Moran, S Daniels (0-1); B Phelan (0-6, 4f, 2sideline), C Watt; P Nevin (0-2), D McGrath (0-1), L Hayes (0-3); J Quirke (0-1), J Mullane (0-5), D Twomey (1-0). Subs: T Kearney for Quirke (40); D Greene (0-1) for Kelly (44); A Kelly for McGrath (ET); B Farrell (0-1) for Watt (67); J Foran for Hayes (80)

Cushendall - F McAuley; A Graffin (0-1), O Scullion, C Carson; D McNaughton, K Elliott, M McCambridge; K McKeegan (0-5, 4f, 1 65), P McGill (0-1); B Delargy, D McKillop, S Delargy (0-1); S McNaughton (1-1), N McManus (0-4), A Delargy (0-3). Subs: C McCambridge (0-3, 1f) for C Carson (21); C Carson for B Delargy (59); M Burke (Introduced for ET); E Laverty for S McNaughton (67); B Delargy for A Delargy (67); J Carson for Elliot (76)

Ref - Eamon Morris (Dublin)

As I've watched both semi-finals from the comfort of my armchair, so they'll not carry as much weight as some other gaels but what ta heck, I'll give my tuppence worth anyway.

Stating the obvious but Cushendall did blow it again and it was that lack of forward power which we all knew might be their achilles heel let them down.
Graffin and Kevin Elliott were superb in defence throughout. I sitll don't understand the Dall tactic of deploying an extra forward down the field, at some point even Conor McCambridge was in his own halfback line, spotted Aidan Delargy as well. I'd suggest that with your forward division a man short the ball out of defence needs to be more measured and a lot of good ground hurling did hit the spaces where Shane Mcnaughton and Sean Delargy did get some joy against a slower, beefier defence, but a lot of the time the ball was hit up the middle where it was at best a 50/50 ball. Neil McManus is undoubtedly a fine hurler and athelite but he needs to get a position and grow into it as the better teams at AI club level and intercounty level won't let him run 30 to 40 yards through the middle of a defence.
if he gets a chance to watch the way Joe Canning made time, space and scores for his colleagues in the other semi-final yesterday and was able to vary his game when the need arose.
Disappointed for the Dall as in so many aspects of the game yesterday they were better than their opposition but just failed to get that vital score in normal time.

As for the referee, i thought he was poor enough and stimied whatever flow was in the game for needlessly blowing frees when a player had either escaped the tug and about to deliver their clearance and allowed a few individuals to 'buy' easy free's by going down quite easy.

all the same it'l be hard to look past Portumna in the final as they have quality hurlers all over the park and their team work yesterday was something to behold from a club team.

[maxpower]

For my tuppence worth i state the bloody obvious to start, Cushendall should have won in normal time and DLS will have serious trouble being competitive with Portumna

I thought the Dall did themselves proud, you can't always be guaranteed to play well but you can control your effort and intensity and the number of blocks and hooks the dall defence put in was testament to their excellent appetite for the game.  They did look to be suffering from the jitters, particularly early days and both the excellent Neil McManus and Aiden Delargy missed chances early days when the dall where playing with a strong wind behind them.

Aaron Graffin was terrific through out, and his block on Mullane was incredible as was his wonder point.  Sean Delargy, Kevin Elliott, Odhran Scullion and Micky mcCambridge all performed well, Karl mcKeegan wasn' his usual self and cushendall suffered as a result

neil mcmanus was excellent, as good for the Dall as Phelan was for DLS.  The only problem he has is being shifted around so much, i think he's a better defender but Cushendall and Antrim probaly need him in attack, so line him there and allow him to develop as a playmaker as well as a ball winner.

Aiden Delargy's point just before he went off was fantastic

At the game i though McKillop was unlucky with the red card, on TV it looked a cert and while he wasn't having a huge effect on the game it meant the other forwards had to work so hard, any wonder some where down with cramp, when McNaughton and Delargy both went off it perhaps signalled the end of the Dalls serious scoring threat

Dissapointed for them, was impressed with their attitude and there young stars in Graffin and McManus certainly lived up to their billing, just needed a bit more punch in half forwards and more strength on bench

[NAG]

Max what did you make of the referee?

[maxpower]

thought he was fair enough to be honest

[NAG]

Yeah I have to say I thought so myself, there were a few dodgy calls boths ways.

I also think that he isnt a top ref and that is one of the reasons why he always seems to end up refereeing the northern sides. He would have been well out of his depth in the other semi.

[maxpower]

I would agree with that, didn't really see the incident shortly after the red card which led to the dall men around shouting for sending off.

Cushendall also had a fairly hefty support with them, biggest i've seen them carry for a long time

[groundlie]

Walking out the gate of Parnell and seeing sambo with tears in his eyes brought a lump to my throat. Hard luck to the dall.

[NAG]

I think there will be a few more tears today when they realise what a chance yesterday presented for them. Must be tough to take.

[milltown row]

Disappointed for Cushendall, should have put them away. Thought they played well with the 14 men but could not hold on for the final whistle. Graffin was top class. Super fit and did a serious amount of running. Noticed that him, McManus and Sean Delargy never cramped so I'd have to ask questions as to why AD and Shane were having problems. Going into that game you have to have all your main players in the peak condition.

The Dall's bench didn't have the influence needed to change the match also. Thought if they had have sent McManus in on his own at full forward then he'd have made a difference. He'd have won high ball and low ball going in.
Karl went walkies. Fumbled most balls and missed two frees. He won a lot more ball when he played deeper in the extra time. For me he is a defender and nothing else. More confident with defending the ball coming at him. However, it's easy to pick holes in a team after the match.

If they match that intensity come championship this year then they will win the Volunteer Cup again.

Great atmosphere at the ground also so hats off to all the supporters who went down. Seemed to be a good sprinkling of all the Belfast and north Antrim clubs and some Derry clubs.

[clootfromthe21]

Have to say its a long long time since I was so disappointed coming out of a game.

Thought the Dall should have done it in ordinary time. If Carson had taken his point/drawn the foul as he ran through at the end, it might well have been a different story!

Very impressed with Neil McManus, Aaron Graffin and Sean Delargy. Think the first two in particular could make a serious impact nationally if they keep going as they are - Enda McEvoy of the Tribune has certainly picked up on Mc Manus already. Have a (fading) memory of McManus doing extremely well on Joe Canning at an All Ireland Minor Quarter Final which Antrim should have won in Mullingar.

Thought Karl McKeegan had a very quiet game. Would agree that he is much better facing the ball.

Cushendall's lifting was very poor at times, particularly in the forwards. Not helped at all by a very "rutty" pitch but still, two, three, four goes at lifting was not great. Thought Shane McNaughton was particularly bad in this regard.

The Dall also lacked that bit of luck when executing a great hook or block - on a good number of occasions the ball would just run to a DLS man.

Haven't heard James McNaughton's comments criticising the referee but I don't think he was particularly bad (or good for that matter). Would like to see McKillop's swing that led to the sending off again. It's always a bit more dramatic when the recipient hasn't a helmet but on the other hand Mc Killop already had a yellow and had to be careful.

One Cushendall partisan behind me was incensed at what he was describing as kicks to Cushendall players on the ground on several occasions, but hand on heart I just didn't see them.

Thought Cushendall's puc-outs were very ropey. I appreciate there was a significant wind but a couple dropped very short and were sent straight back over.

Anyway, is it Wexford this Sunday? Will any of the Dall boys be back?

Disappointed for Cushendall, should have put them away. Thought they played well with the 14 men but could not hold on for the final whistle. Graffin was top class. Super fit and did a serious amount of running. Noticed that him, McManus and Sean Delargy never cramped so I'd have to ask questions as to why AD and Shane were having problems. Going into that game you have to have all your main players in the peak condition.

The Dall's bench didn't have the influence needed to change the match also. Thought if they had have sent McManus in on his own at full forward then he'd have made a difference. He'd have won high ball and low ball going in.
Karl went walkies. Fumbled most balls and missed two frees. He won a lot more ball when he played deeper in the extra time. For me he is a defender and nothing else. More confident with defending the ball coming at him. However, it's easy to pick holes in a team after the match.

If they match that intensity come championship this year then they will win the Volunteer Cup again.

Great atmosphere at the ground also so hats off to all the supporters who went down. Seemed to be a good sprinkling of all the Belfast and north Antrim clubs and some Derry clubs.

[NAG]

Have to dispel this myth of the sending off, it doesnt matter that the guy wasnt wearing a helmet a blow to the head is not acceptable no matter how light. The fact that some referee's and coaches/ players think that it is ok to slap a guy round the head because he is wearing a helmet is not on.

[clootfromthe21]

Have to dispel this myth of the sending off, it doesnt matter that the guy wasnt wearing a helmet a blow to the head is not acceptable no matter how light. The fact that some referee's and coaches/ players think that it is ok to slap a guy round the head because he is wearing a helmet is not on.

Don't get me wrong NAG, I totally agree that a swing to a helmeted head is just as bad and equally as punishable.

I'm just saying that there is a little bit more of an "oooooh!!!!!" factor when the player is helmet-less.

[milltown row]

certainly a DLS player stamped on McManus after the referee had already awarded a free against Cushendall in the second half. this led to the DLS player getting yellow carded and the free then given to Cushendall.

as for the "swing" to the head of the DLS player there was no swing and the "hallon" made a meal out of it to be honest.  i think McKillop was reaching around to take the ball off his stick and was unfortunate.

referee maybe blew easily sometimes but had no major shouts. players on yellow cards need to be carefull in each tackle McKillop wasn't.

for a neutral it was well worth the money paid in.

just a note about Cushendalls problems in front of goal, they scored 1-16 in normal time, thats not bad for this time of year. what did the mighty Ballyhale Shamrocks score yesterday in Thurles? remember they were odds on