Antrim Hurling

[maxpower]

fair enough of the senior managers for not calling off last nights league matches and allowing the u21 to go ahead tonight, this is the way it should be but over the last few years county managers have been looking weeks before games.

Dunloy beat lamh dearg 1:22 to 1:8, good result against a decent team in testing conditions.  Lamh Dearg really shot themselves in the foot with the sending off of their full back at end of first half.  also dissapointed with the play acting of some lamh dearg players

[milltown row]

yes max had a guy at the match, said that Lamhs had you's tied up in the first half. Micko was pulling the strings. although raymy got himself sent off, no surprise there then. some heavy pulling by the lamhs was there?

[maxpower]

aye indeed there was some rough enough play. if they had stuck at the hurling they were doing well enough.  though in the first half we were hurling against a very stiff wind and the scores were level when raymie got sent off so i would still have expected us to go on and win,

[clootfromthe21]

I see that Dublin beat Wexford by a point and Offaly beat Kilkenny in the other Leinster under 21 semi-final. Apparently, Leinster play Ulster this year in the semi final. Any word on how our under 21s are shaping up?

[Ruairi Og exile]

Cloot, you'll be happy with Dublin result?? 

Dont know if U21's are doing much as a team, but alot of U21's on the senior panel. Hopefully an improved performance in semi final than last couple of years

[clootfromthe21]

Happy Exile only in the sense that any Antrim team will not have the same psychological issues with either Dublin or Offaly that they woud with Wexford or, in particular, Kilkenny!!!

Mind you, its great to see the improvement in hurling in Dublin - there are large areas of the place now where on any given evening you can expect to see kids out with sticks

[aontroim]

Ballycastle and Rossa lucky to be through i hear - Johnnies should have done enough after a good comeback to win, but the Town managed a couple of points and late goal at the death to snatch it.

Same story for Rossa - were never in the lead the whole game until a scrappy goal with the last puck of the game.

Was surprised that Gort na Mona didn't put up a bit more resistance, but not surprised by the Dunloy result at all.

[girt_giggler]

Ballycastle v Loughgiel final i would think

[Ballybredagh]

In reply to all of this pessimistic stuff about the standard of Antrim hurling. I have to say that there have been a lot of possitive develoments over the past few years. The strides made by the minors in the last couple of years is one thing, but there is assolutely no doubt that standards have risen in Div 2 and 3 and the emergence of Clooney Gaels, Cloughmills etc have been excellent developments. Also, Randalstown, Carey Faughs and Glenarm have improved significantly over the past couple of years and good strides are being made in the city too, especially at St John's, but also at St Galls, St Agnes, Sarsfields and St Theresa's, with Rossa also showing some signs of recovering their previous lofty status in Antrim hurling circles.

I have seen all of these clubs play in the past 12 months and in my opinion, there is now a far greater spread of hurling talent in Antrim than ever before.

Always look on the bright side!

   

[girt_giggler]

very very competitive IHC this year. personally i would have it between st pauls/carey, but also got glenarm, glenravel, cushendun (depending whos playing come championship) etc in there too.

junior championship i know less about but i would say between st endas/cloughmills/mcdermotts/rasharkin.

just realising ive forgot to mention Ahoghill here, cant remember which Championship they are in, i assume Intermediate

[clootfromthe21]

Any word how the hurlers got on against Wexford?

[North Antrim]

Got beat by 10 points!!

[Syd]

Got beat by 10 points!!

f**k that does not bode too well,Wexford only beat Dublin by a point.

[slow corner back]

Dont read too much into challenge matches, in most of them neither side is at full strength or going anywhere near 100%.

[aontroim]

Had heard that due to big Mal's broken hand, Neal McAuley was being lined up to take over at No. 5, but was told today that he also broke his hand in the U21 game on Friday night! Bad luck usually comes in 3's so who's the last to get crocked?