Antrim camogie

[whereshegoinref]

As Gary said in his post match interview, the standards and preparation involved in senior club camogie are now on a par with senior hurling. Cushendall and Dunloy have risen to the incredible bar set by Loughgiel, and you can be sure Loughgiel will be back again next year. It all points towards another brilliant championship.

I didn't get to see the final, but I was at the Cushendall v Loughgiel semi-final and thought the level of skill, intensity and physicality on show was seriously impressive.

The big question now is whether Antrim can harness all that quality at club level and translate it into a county team capable of competing consistently at Division 1 level. The talent and standards are clearly there, but can it all be brought together?

Derry camogie is also on a real upward trajectory, and I don't think it'll be long before they're challenging Antrim regularly for Ulster titles. Plenty of positives for camogie in the province, but Antrim need to make sure the progress being made at club level is reflected on the intercounty stage.

They competed very well in D1 last year albeit in defensive mode rather than going toe to toe.
Next year in 1B they'll be up against teams where they can compete on an even footing likes of dublin limerick offaly etc.
I wouldnt be surprised if they get to senior qf if championship structures stay the same.

Fair point about Derry camogie, their schools are flying and the club scene is very competitive. While the top teams at the minute are a wee bit off antrims best, the depth is better, in a couple of years there could be 6 teams challenging for senior cship, whereas in antrim there is nothing coming to challenge the top 3 for the next 3 years at least.

[Na Glinntí Glasa]

 I def thing that the improvement of Cushendall and Dunloy to get up to the same level as what Loughgiel had set will only be a good thing for Antrim camogie.

Having three good teams to go at a senior championship is only a good thing rather than one team just walking it year after year. Ballycastle aren't far off being competitive though have lost a few players to pregnancy, injuries and travelling over the year.

I have long maintained that Antrim cant be competitive at the top level when they rely on the top few clubs all the time. If you look at Cork they only had 3/4 of the St Finbarr's players in their panel, for Galway you only again had a small handful of players from Athenry.

The top counties take players from a host of clubs but the difference is that they are all nearly Division 1 level

Antrim's issue is that they have players from Division 2 & intermediate level. The standard between Div1/senior to Div2/intermediate is massive in our county. Its trying to close that drop off.

You only have to see that this years intermediate final was Dunloy v Loughgiels second teams. They beat the senior sides of clubs in the knockouts to get there - and that's after both clubs had played 6 senior games prior to that ruling out anyone who played senior for the intermediate comp.

Division 1B is Antrims level at the moment for County where they will be competitive against the likes of Dublin, Clare, Limerick etc.

[johnnycool]

Down final this Saturday with a very strong Clonduff expected to beat a Niamh Mallon (Delargy) less Portaferry.

I've been impressed by Clonduff what I've seen of them this year, they've a good style of play not dependent on their big stars and have a good few young girls in key positions as well stepping up to the mark.

Portaferry have impressed me with their conditioning and are very fit, but will probably be 10+ points off the mark on Saturday.

Clonduff will have an eye on Ulster I'd have thought now that their nemesis of Loughgiel are gone.

I think i saw somewhere that Paula O'Hagan is back with them not that long after having a baby. Seriously dedicated one that girl.

[Na Glinntí Glasa]

Fancy clonduff to have too much for Portaferry in the final. Clonduff are a really strong team and should get the job done.

In Derry i think Swatragh should get the job done. They were missing a lot of key players last year so this season at full strenght they have been very good. Bellaghy have done serious underage work with so many feiles and titles but its maybe too early for them just yet.

Clonduff v Swatragh Ulster semi final would be well worth watching

[whereshegoinref]

Clonduff v Derry winners (swatragh not nailed on by any means) may well be competitive but on last 2 years evidence neither should bother Dunloy.
Dunloy were every bit as strong as loughgiel last year but couldn't put them away in the final. Loughgiel were comfortable against clonduff even with 14 players.
Unfortunately for Dunloy St. Finbarrs look like they could be the team to beat for the next few years.

[SaffronSports]

I see Dunloy are being investigated for an unnotified gathering...

Madness