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I'd say Philip Lynott or Rory Gallagher would share that particular honour.

Nothing wrong with a point here tonight if that's the way it ends up.

Superb.

No bad teams in this competition. One defeat in five games a good return to date, Bruges are a very tough opponent. Three more chances to get a few more points, we would all have settled for this at the start.

You can definitely see plenty of green shoots, just using PG1 as an example, a complete re boot of juvenile structure about 7 or 8 years ago just starting to pay dividends.

Cumann Na Bunschoil all county primary school champions five times years out of last 8 years. Many other clubs on a progressive juvenile curve too, great to see.

Clubs is where main change for the betterment of Antrim football can happen. Once schools see the quality of intake rising there's a good chance they will grasp the nettle too....

Nat, for what's its worth I'm told out current under 14s and under 15s are easily the best some of our development squad coaches have seen. They compete well amongst their peers across Ulster and are getting everything they need at development squad level, S&C, nutritional advice, light psychology in places (hunger, desire, ambition, sacrifices all that stuff) and no shortage of commitment in terms of hours devoted or commitment level.

Maybe we could appreciate the good work that is going on. Every so often I'd bump into our head of coaching and development, and tbh, I've nothing but admiration for his efforts and quality of his totally voluntary commitment in the face of so much negativity and more than a few punishing results during his tenure.

Good point Nat, we shouldn't gloss over the fact that plenty of good ex players and decent coaches have already been involved over the last few years, and people here and elsewhere happy to dismiss those efforts because they see little or no reward or improvement on results.

All we can ask for is good quality people to step up and do their very best. And thats been happening for years.

Problem is though....as Antrim put more effort energy and resource into all things development squad related, and making improvements along the right lines, other counties are not standing still, and are enhancing their own model including schools and clubs.

It's been said here dozens of times, development squads and schools can only work within the broad base of talent being provided by clubs.

We want to make a real difference, it's at club level. Give schools and development squads something to work with and stop spreading the blame elsewhere.

Nil I'd say your own connections are as good as anyone else's in the county.

Starting from there, there's never any harm done to source a few of these "names" you talk of, and if they are interested in getting involved, youde be as well able as any to make sure that information reached the proper ears.

I'm a step or two removed from these decisions but PM me anytime if that helps.

I agree that as a policy it could only be good to get a few of our ex county stars out and involved with our development squads and teams.

There's no easy answers to this. What are we to do here. Throw out all 11 or 12 names associated with new under 20 and minor management teams, and get a microscope out and do a forensic into their credentials.

Trust me, there's not usually a long queues for these positions, and it's not hard for any prominent ex county footballer or successful coach to find a way to declare am interest, should they feel the need to commit to a few years where victories will be rare, and distinguishing marks on any aspiring CV will be rarer. And unpaid at that.

That's the basis I conclude this year's new management teams are more in need of appreciation than any form of faux underwhelment!

At first glance I'm not seeing any Dads involvement either, to me that's always a plus as well.

No pleasing some people here..a total of 9 individuals all involved in preparation of county under 20s. There's a solid mix of senior club coaches, S&C, diet and nutrition, psychology, fitness and add in Cathal McMullan and Tomas who are also in the mix, two lads who need no introduction

They'll be out an average of 3 tones a week, without any form of reimbursement, doing their best to prepare a squad with little or no previous to inspire them.

And some here want to Diss this as not significant enough. I'd love to see what they would come up with as an alternative of people they are quite certain would be willing to put their hand up.

Strong looking management teams for minor and under 20. Plenty of variety and experience amongst both sets of personnel. Fair play to our county coaching and development officer for showing a bit of enterprise, not scared of going outside of the county to source added value 👍.

Yes ITG, lost to a good St Eunans team by a few points in Dromore.

One of the best ever to play the game.

Behave. Paddy Tally a superb operator, good enough for Kerry to make his coaching participation a priority, and people here willing to say he's not good enough for Derry. Fantastic coach who will adapt to new rules and play to team strengths.

No pleasing some people.

If you don't win Sam it won't be Paddy Tallys fault.

No one needs to feel good about Cargin putting up a disappointing effort on Sunday, as no one in Antrim benefits from that. We can be sure that Cargin will start off hot enough favourites for next year's Antrim championship...and even if they dont win many underage titles,they will bring through 3 or 4 quality players every year from their conveyor belt.

I respect the work Cargin put in, and recognise that for many years they were sole SW club consistently performing when SW football generally was a poor second fiddle to some great city teams. And the fact they will always be around the top end of Antrim football, even if they hit odd year where there is transition etc.

It's up to the rest to catch up. plain and simple, and clubs wanting to do that need to be working very hard across all age groups for a sustained period of time.

Happy where PG1 are in this regard, I've consistently said there's genuine quality in the underage system and I see tangible rewards for that in the not too distant future. I see them getting better as they go, not other way around  and plenty of other clubs have definitely upped their game too in this regard which can only be good for Antrim football in general.