Anybody interested?!
Good luck to the Down lads although they will need to be 100% better than they were against Derry in the replay, awful stuff.
Hopefully Paddy Hughes will be starting, Aaron Dynes ain't mobile enough to play at centre half. (He was out of Casement before me last Saturday so he may well have taken the hump anyway)! Andy Savage has been our best player all year and I hope he gets some much needed support.
Good luck especially to big Finty and Zelda!
Anyone know how much it is in? Surely there will be a discount as we'll have to endure two Antrim "football" teams. ;)
I heard someone is painting a wall on sunday, down owenvargh beside casement. Might be a better option to watch the paint dry instead of watching the Football
Big Johnston was in great form in the 2 games with Derry. If Down can get the ball to him he can do damage. Finty Conway doesn't look out of place at all. Good to see him back with a bit of hunger for the game.
What's the craic with Martin Coulter? He was in the stand at the first match. I thought he was going to return to the panel for the championship?
down will be happy to see small fellas playin in the forwards for antrim. will try to be physical to get them out of the game early i reckon
Antrim: R McGarry, M Kettle, M McCambridge, S Delargy (c), M Molloy, J Campbell, C Herron, B Herron, K McKeegan, P McGill, N McManus, M Herron, S McCrory, J McIntosh, P Shields.
Any word of the Down team? There's a couple of forwards I haven't heard off? Where are McCrory & Shields from?
LAST TEN CHAMPIONSHIP CLASHES
2006 - Down 1-23 Antrim 1-7*
2006 - Antrim 2-23 Down 0-12
2005 - Antrim 2-22 Down 1-18
2004 - Antrim 3-14 Down 0-18 (replay)
2004 - Antrim 1-15 Down 1-15
2003 - Antrim 0-21 Down 2-12
2002 - Antrim 3-16 Down 1-18
2001 - Down 2-14 Antrim 1-10
1997 - Down 3-14 Antrim 0-19
1996 - Antrim 1-20 Down 2-12
Prediction: Antrim by 10.
Quote from: Lecale2 on May 31, 2007, 01:27:51 PM
Big Johnston was in great form in the 2 games with Derry. If Down can get the ball to him he can do damage. Finty Conway doesn't look out of place at all. Good to see him back with a bit of hunger for the game.
What's the craic with Martin Coulter? He was in the stand at the first match. I thought he was going to return to the panel for the championship?
Dingy needs yet another knee operation and is out for the season.
From a Down viewpoint I'm glad to see McIntosh in on Murph as in previous years he did most of his damage when in the corner on much smaller men. Murph or even Finty will give him a bit more ash than he likes.
The midfield area will be interesting as I can see McKeegan playing the deeper role, defending in front of his half backs. I'd like to see McGourty pick him up as he is a good striker of the ball and can take long range points when the opportunity presents itself. Andy Savage will cover every blade and not found wanting at any point.
My main worry is our half forwards where big Emmet and Ciaran Courtney are likely to be. Big Ciaran will give graham a few options for puck outs but will need to offload the ball into the forwards a lot quicker than he normally does. Big Emmet Trainor is either a hit or a miss with the miss count a lot higher than the hits. Here's hoping he gets one of his hits this sunday. Zelda is too awkward of a hurler for me and now that his speed and fitness is on the wane he looks very ordinary but you never know. The slip inn takings might be down on saturday night if he's in the right frame of mind.
Neither set of forwards looks like setting the world alight but the Antrim bench hold all the aces here. I would expect to see Paddy Richmond sprung fairly quickly if Down put up any resistance at all.
I wouldn't be a shock if Down win but the odds are stacked against them. Going up in hope more than expectation.
I've no idea what Antrim are like this year but Down were poor in both games against Derry. The bookies have Down at 9/2 and that's probably about right. Hopefully those games with Derry will have done them some good and they can take the chances and cut out the silly errors. As JC says I'll travel over more in hope.
Bacon - Shields from Dunloy, McCrory from St Johns.
Antrim lightweight up front...hopefully can scrape through.
I think too much is being made of Antrims lightweight attack, it s not as if they are coming up against Diurmid O Sullivan or Sean Og, Downs defence would not be the most physically imposing. At the end of the day Shields or Mc Crory will probably be marking Liam Clarke !
Shields may be a little light, but the casement field will suit him down to the ground. He is an intelligent hurler and will relish the challenge of finding the space to pop the ball over the bar. As for Simon McCrory, Lightweight? I don't think so. He has legs on him that a russian weight lifter would be proud of. Strength, speed and skill. He has it all, but I just don't think he has showed his true potential yet. He needs to come out of his shell.
Has McCrory played much with St Johns seniors?
If he has then he hasn't stood out much.
Quote from: johnneycool on June 01, 2007, 11:23:47 AM
Has McCrory played much with St Johns seniors?
If he has then he hasn't stood out much.
We played them this year in league and our fella that was marking him could not believe he was even part of Antrim panel never mind starting. I dont think he is up to it, may prove me wrong though.
Any word of the Down team? They leave it very late.
Antrim are 5/6 -7 pts with Eastwoods on Sunday, pretty good bet me thinks......
It's the most unpredictable of championships though. Any team can hammer any other on its day.
Is Braniff still out with the knee injury he got in the Ulster v Leinster match in September? If so, why did he leave it so long before getting the op. Surely the Down CB would have supported him. I seen that incident and it just looked like he feel awkwardly...not a season and a half ending injury
Quote from: rolloutking on June 02, 2007, 01:51:34 AM
Is Braniff still out with the knee injury he got in the Ulster v Leinster match in September? If so, why did he leave it so long before getting the op. Surely the Down CB would have supported him. I seen that incident and it just looked like he feel awkwardly...not a season and a half ending injury
He had major problems with the same knee before. They've got him back on his feet but I've heard it's tough and go if he'll play again.
Quote from: rolloutking on June 02, 2007, 01:51:34 AM
Is Braniff still out with the knee injury he got in the Ulster v Leinster match in September? If so, why did he leave it so long before getting the op. Surely the Down CB would have supported him. I seen that incident and it just looked like he feel awkwardly...not a season and a half ending injury
The most serious knee injuries are usually when there is no contact from another player, when the foot plants and the knee twists. How many soccer players have you seen with pretty innocuous looking injuries when no one is near them, they end up being out for 12 mths.
One word - diabolical. ::)
The suppporters should get their money back !
Quote from: No1 on June 03, 2007, 06:22:09 PM
One word - diabolical. ::)
I thought it was worse than that to be honest.
Only Finty, wee Liam and possibly Graham put up any sort of a showing and you can't turn a tide as they say.
Even though the conditions were bad for both teams, Antrim had the better first touch and striking all the way through and more importantly played and looked like a team. Down were very much individuals with no game plan of note. If Courtney is going to be the main target man for puck outs the rest of the midfield and half forwards need to be bombing past him at angles to a: take a pass if he catches it, or b: be ready to pick up the breaking ball when he doesn't. Neither happened yesterday and Karl McKeegan had a field day in this regard.
It's not looking good for Down and with away games against Kerry and Westmeath in the Christy Ring we may be club hurling again a lot quicker than anticipated.
Yesterday will tell Antrim very little and possibly a few bad habits may of crept into a few players games, Micko Herron had a tendency to stop to hit the ball yesterday, against better opposition he'll be found out. The two corner forwards are a bit off the mark yesterday even with the huge amount of ball that came their way, their return wasn't great. With less quality ball I don't think they'll make too many silk purses in the AI round robin games. Brian McFall even though he scored 1-2 (he can thank Neil McManus for that) has went up a few shorts sizes and has slowed him down. Paddy Richmond never looks like an athelete but doesn't rely on speed as much as McFall and will start the next day if Terence and Dominic have any sense.
2-24 on any day is a great score regardless of who your playing. the conditions yesterday were the worst ever, i'm only starting to dry out today. the rain brought no athmosphere to the game, Down failed to show, no game plan and did not win any personal battles, Savage played his usually busy game but no support, was impressed with Antrims stick work considering the weather, stuck to the task and obviously they were told to get points and if goals came a long take them. Clarke's a great keeper but was at fault for the first, a miss hit free by Tosh.
i'd say Antrim need to play a few challenge games before the Clare game to see where they are at, no offence johnneycool but i would have been embarrassed yesterday. where is Simon Wilson and the lad from Ballygalget, corner back good player
Quote from: milltown row on June 04, 2007, 08:37:28 AM
i'd say Antrim need to play a few challenge games before the Clare game to see where they are at, no offence johnneycool but i would have been embarrassed yesterday. where is Simon Wilson and the lad from Ballygalget, corner back good player
I was indeed embarrassed yesterday but it doesn't seem to worry any of the county board responsible in hurling in Down as we've got a few more years of this ahead of us due to lack of proper juvenile structures and development squads.
Add to that the fact that the present Down team don't have any leaders on the park, someone like Gazza to take the bull by the horns, far too many sheep, hence the fragile confidence. Scoring forwards are a scarcity in Down, Dule and Magic are all that's really of a decent standard, able to win their own ball and score more often than not. None of the other 5 forwards yesterday are ever going to seriously trouble the score board operator at this level, in fact two are actually reserve team hurlers for their club teams and don't exactly stand out at that level either. Simon Wilson has went back in recent years plus has a young family and couldn't give any sort of commitment, but if he'd seen the amount of commitment some of the lads who started yesterday gave he'd probably of been fine turning up once a week or whatever.
One of many dark days ahead for Down hurlers I'm afraid.
Lads I am not going to pretend I am an expert on hurling...I'm not..but Down were a total and absolute disgrace ....no other way of saying it....regardless of not being good enough, there is no excuse for their lack of genuine honest effort..the manager is responsible for ensuring the players go out and give it everything, in this one area he failed miserably...how could he have the face to take another session after that show. Players are not good enough...that happens to every team and county at various stages over the years, but there is no excuse for lack of pride, effort and committment. The managers responsibility.
Quote from: Maximus Marillius on June 04, 2007, 10:15:55 AM
Lads I am not going to pretend I am an expert on hurling...I'm not..but Down were a total and absolute disgrace ....no other way of saying it....regardless of not being good enough, there is no excuse for their lack of genuine honest effort..the manager is responsible for ensuring the players go out and give it everything, in this one area he failed miserably...how could he have the face to take another session after that show. Players are not good enough...that happens to every team and county at various stages over the years, but there is no excuse for lack of pride, effort and committment. The managers responsibility.
Have the players no responsibility let alone the ultimate responsibility. If only a dozen lads turn up to training on a regular basis what's a manager to do considering the very limited resources at his disposal?
Johnny resign, if they are turning up why, it is the amnagers resposability to create the climate for players to want to be there, if that is not happening, whether it is his fault or not, surely resigningis the only option, why stay and end up with a defeat such as yesterday